H EADLINES
Security Offi cials Reassure Nervous Public
Ahead of Election Day 2020
L OCA L
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
BRAD ORSINI WANTED to
make one thing clear above all
during a recent Zoom town hall
about security concerns hosted
by the Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia: “We have
no direct threats to anybody in
the Jewish community.”
Orsini, the senior national
security adviser of the
Secure Community Network
and the former commu-
nity security director for the
Jewish Federation of Greater
Pittsburgh, was making
a point that was echoed by
Jewish Federation’s director of
security, Frank Riehl.

Despite such reassurances,
it was obvious that there
remains plenty of anxiety about
communal safety ahead of the
Nov. 3 election; a substantial
portion of the questions asked
by virtual participants focused
on the dangers they fear could
come that day.

“Is there any concern about,
or expectation of, attempts
regarding voter intimidation,
either of individual Jews or
organizations, either as Jews
or supporters of Israel?” one
participant asked.

“If we observe verbal or
physical voter intimidation at
the polls on Election Day, do
we call 911, or a local police
phone number or the FBI or
someone else?” another wanted
to know.

Laura Frank, director of
Brad Orsini of the Secure Community Network addresses an anxious audience during a recent Zoom town
hall held by Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

Screenshot via Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
public relations for the Jewish
Federation and interim director
of the Jewish Community
Relations Council, led the town
hall, and summarized several
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4 OCTOBER 15, 2020
by Dan Tantino, a supervisory
special agent with the FBI, and
Mike McGrath, superintendent
of the Lower Merion Police
Department. Th ey spent about
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WHO other participant questions
that came in regarding staying
safe from extremist groups like
the Proud Boys and antifa.

Orsini and Riehl were joined
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30 minutes explaining the ways
that their individual security
teams were working with the
Jewish Federation, detailing the
ways that they share informa-
tion, track any would-be threats,
counter disinformation and
work to ensure that Election Day
is, above all else, boring.

Or, as Orsini called it: “A big
nothing burger.”
What will create that partic-
ular burger, Orsini said, is a
high level of preparedness.

He said organizations like the
Jewish Federation should be
relying on the practices that
have helped them to build a
“conscious security culture.”
directed at Jewish nonprofits
has not abated, Orsini added,
these are part of normal proce-
dure at this point.

“We probably get at least
10 to 15 incidents related to
the Jewish community across
the country every single day,”
Orsini said. “I’ve not seen one
related to the election.”
Tantino suggested that
attendees who want to learn
more about the extremist
groups that they fear attempt
to find news sources without a
political slant — sources that
won’t muddy the waters in their
descriptions of those groups.

McGrath repeated the asser-
The last thing we want to have happen is
on Nov. 3, we just don’t have a plan and we’re
overreacting, or we’re underreacting to an
event. We just want to know how we’re going
to handle that.”
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BRAD ORSINI
That means reviewing crisis
communications procedures,
coordinating those with other
interfaith institutions in the
surrounding area, reviewing
access control to the facility
itself and practicing “cyber
hygiene” — Orsini’s phrase to
describe the way that organiza-
tions should review their social
media interactions.

Emphasizing that no specific
threats had yet been identi-
fied and, reading from a list
of 10 daily security practices,
Orsini said that cooperation
and opens lines of commu-
nication between Jewish
institutions and their partners
in law enforcement is key.

“The last thing we want to
have happen is on Nov. 3, we
just don’t have a plan and we’re
overreacting, or we’re underre-
acting to an event,” Orsini said.

“We just want to know how
we’re going to handle that.”
Though phishing emails,
Zoom-bombing and hate mail
tion that no specific threats
relating to Election Day, made
against Jewish people, have
been identified. Like the others,
he noted that communication
and collaboration between
community organizations
and law enforcement, as well
as between law enforcement
agencies, is a win for safety.

Riehl echoed Orsini’s pleas.

“The biggest thing that
we can preach to you folks
is just to reach out to us. No
question’s a silly question, no
observation’s a silly observa-
tion,” he said, describing the
town hall as part of a broader
effort toward anxiety reduction
and “rumor management.”
“Trust me,” he added, “if
you reach out to me, or to
the local police department,
someone will get back to you
and we’ll try to track that down
the best we can.” l
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