An uptick in antisemitic activity is being noticed by law enforcement. It was one of the topics at an event in Rochester on Wednesday attended by representatives of several police agencies.

The annual Project Exile Community Report and Breakfast was held at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Henrietta on Wednesday. The conference brought together local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to discuss the project's efforts in the last year.

What You Need To Know

  • The director of ATF calls the level of gun crime in the United States "simply unacceptable"

  • Director Steven Dettelbach, other high-level law enforcement and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke at the Project Exile meeting on Wednesday

  • Dettelbach addressed the rise in antisemitism

  • He also reviewed the success of the Violent Crime Task Force, a collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies to fight crime

Among them was the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Steven Dettelbach.

“The level of gun crime in this country is simply unacceptable," said Dettelbach to a crowd of high-level law enforcement officials at a time when public safety is top of mind for many people.

It comes one week after the mass shootings in Maine that left 18 people dead.

“When one of these massacres hits your community [or] hits your regions, it’s a very difficult thing," he said. "And we are all of course continuing to think of the people of Lewiston, Maine.”

Dettelbach addressed the rise in antisemitism.

"We’re obviously very concerned with any violent crime, including of course violence that is motivated by bias against people based on their religion," he said. "It’s not only a danger to public safety, but those kinds of things strike at the heart of our nation’s core values.”

Dettelbach also reviewed the success of the Violent Crime Task Force, a collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies to fight crime.

"At the ATF, we have a long history of working with our state and local partners to investigate those kinds of matters," Dettlebach said. "We have been part of that effort to combat those kinds of horrible incidents, especially when they involve guns, explosives or arson. And sadly many of them do involve the use or threatened use of guns, explosives or arson. And we’ll continue to stand side by side with the community and do everything in our power to try and protect them from these horrible threats.”

The law enforcement agencies represented range from local police, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, the FBI, United States Marshal’s Service, Crime Analysis Center, United States Attorney and more. Also in attendance and addressing the room was Gov. Kathy Hochul. 

“I would just say this, which is the biggest fear I think I have, the biggest threat I think that faces us, there are so many mass shootings, gangs, machine gun converting devices, unlawful dealing in firearms, firearms trafficking," Dettelbach said. "The biggest threat is somehow acceptance, somehow that we in this country will accept that this level of firearms violence is part of being an American. It is not part of being an American. It is decidedly un-American. And the ATF doesn’t accept it, the police here don’t accept it, the people of Rochester shouldn’t accept it and the people of this country shouldn't accept it. And we’re going to do something about it here at the ATF."