New York State police monitor online threats as lawmakers return from Israel
Governor Kathy Hochul is announcing that the state has activated its intelligence center with state police to keep an eye on any online threats.
This, as some lawmakers and candidates are making the trek back to New York after taking cover in Israel over the weekend.
"I am in Israel," New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said in a video posted to social media Sunday night.
Booker says he had to take shelter in Jerusalem when Hamas began carrying out its large scale attack against Israel.
Although he has now departed Israel, Senator Booker described the terror of having to take shelter in the stairwell of his hotel.
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New York Congressman Daniel Goldman is another representative who was in Israel when the attack began.
Goldman and his family were forced to shelter in place until early Sunday morning, but they are now safely back in New York.
Daniel Norber, a Republican congressional candidate challenging Congressman George Santos, is still currently in Israel and said his family awoke to the sounds of sirens blaring.
"There's helicopters everywhere. We hear it all day long. I mean, it's just above our skies. There's a war going on. There's a massacre that which occurred in this country," Norber said.
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Norber says he is stuck in Israel until at least the 17th with his family.
"I'm feeling okay," Norber said. "My children are a little bit traumatized. We'll be in New York next week. And we'll get back to normal hopefully. But the fight needs to continue, also from the United States. And I'm really hoping Congress gets together and really fights this because we need help."
Governor Kathy Hochul says that state police is monitoring any online threats – particularly from known white supremacist and neo nazi groups here in the US.
Hochul says they are also calling on social media groups to identify what is being said by these extremists.
"So we're on top of this as aggressively as we can be, but our hearts are broken," Hochul said. "This is as devastating of an attack on Israeli people, the Jewish community since the Holocaust. This is horrific."
Hochul says she will also be meeting with the Israeli ambassador to the UN in New York City on Tuesday.