Leo Terrell, chairman of the Justice Department’s antisemitism task force, is touring 15 cities to put federal resources directly in front of Jewish communities he says local officials have failed to protect.
The American Tour Against Hate kicked off Oct. 14 in Michigan, bringing officials from the Justice Department, FBI and Labor Department face to face with Jewish residents, students, teachers and clergy to talk through workplace and school threats and the enforcement of hate-crime laws.
“The whole purpose of this tour is to go to where the problem is at, to address their needs, and to provide them with federal support,” Terrell told Fox News Digital. “Antisemitism is now and we have to come up with solutions for the future.”
Terrell named Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Detroit as cities where he says hate crimes have gone unprosecuted, which is why the FBI was brought into the tour’s opening stop. He did not point to specific cases.
“We had the FBI at the first tour meeting because some of these cities have failed to prosecute hate crimes,” he said.
Every stop follows the same pattern: a public event open to the community, then a full day inside the Jewish community itself. “The tour is really two days,” Terrell said. “We have a two-hour tour event where the community is invited. You know what we do the next day? I spend the next day, all day in the Jewish community.”
The numbers behind the push
FBI data shows 1,528 single-bias anti-Jewish hate-crime incidents reported by law enforcement in 2025, with 62.4% of religious-bias hate crime victims targeted because of anti-Jewish bias.
Terrell calls protecting Jewish students and worshippers a “24-7 obligation” spanning colleges, K-12 schools and synagogues, and he’s blunt about the cost Jewish institutions carry just to stay safe, calling the security spending a “Jewish tax.”
A warning to universities
College campuses remain squarely in Terrell’s sights. He says university presidents are betting the pressure disappears once Trump leaves office — and he’s telling them it won’t.
“All these campus presidents are on notice. You know what I think they’re trying to do? I think they’re trying to wait out President Trump. It’s not gonna happen.”
“Because if they fail to take care of Jewish American students, all students, we’re going back at them, each school, because those are ongoing violations,” he said.
Terrell says he won’t negotiate quietly with schools under scrutiny. “My philosophy is quite simple. Don’t cut deals with these guys,” he said. “Force them to go to court, get a court order settlement to make sure they are under the gun to protect Jewish American students.”
On professors and activists he describes as encouraging harassment, Terrell pointed to money flowing in from abroad. “I think, first of all, there’s a lot of money being brought in from overseas to influence the administration, the faculty members, and what I call professional harassers,” he said. Asked directly whether foreign funding and coordination among groups is under investigation, he said: “That is one of the tools… The influence of overseas money as it impacts college campuses and really throughout this country to promote antisemitism. Let me tell you right now, that’s being investigated.”
Bringing in young Christians
Terrell also addressed more than 200 students at the Christian Leaders Summit Forum in Lynchburg, Virginia, hosted by the Combat Antisemitism Movement. He called it “probably the most important meeting I’ve ever had in my job.”
“This fight against antisemitism has to include everyone in this country. Antisemitism is not a Jewish issue. It’s an American issue. It’s a Western civilization issue.”
“So I need these young people to join me on the stage, telling the Jewish community, telling all Americans we are together in fighting antisemitism,” he added. “Religious freedom must be available to all Americans.”
His message to anyone who feels local officials have left them exposed: call his office directly. “I will never say no,” he said. “I will never say no to help. Call my office, call the department of justice.”
