Young People Arrested in Plot to Attack Texas Synagogue

Two young people have been arrested in an alleged plot to attack a Texas synagogue that involved driving through the congregation to "kill as many Jews as possible," according to authorities and court documents reported by the AP. The arrests come a month after an armed man crashed his pickup truck into a major Detroit-area synagogue in another attack on Jewish people. Synagogues around the world have increased security and protections for worshippers since the US and Israel launched a war with Iran on Feb. 28.

• Angelina Han Hicks, 18, of Lexington, North Carolina, was being held Thursday in the Davidson County jail under a $10 million bond, jail records show. She was arrested Wednesday and formally charged with conspiring with two "male subjects" to commit murder and assault against members of Congregation Beth Israel in Houston on April 21, 2028, according to warrants laying out two felony counts against her.
• The FBI office in Charlotte said Thursday in a social media post that a juvenile was arrested in relation to the plot and charged in Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston. There was no immediate information on whether the juvenile was one of the two male subjects identified in Hicks' warrants, which listed only their first names and noted their last names as "unknown."

• A Houston Police Department news release on Thursday announced a 16-year-old being arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit capital murder related to "a threat directed towards certain Jewish institutions in our area" that the agency learned about Wednesday. The department didn't identify Congregation Beth Israel specifically. The FBI and the Houston school district police department assisted in the arrest. "At this time, there is no other known credible threat," the release said.
• Explaining why Hicks' detention was necessary, District Court Judge Carlton Terry wrote Wednesday in part that the alleged "conspiracy is to kill as many Jews as possible by driving through a congregation at a synagogue." "Allowing a co-conspirator a chance to communicate with either of those individuals or those who could relay a message puts lives at risk," Terry added.

The FBI said its Charlotte Joint Terrorism Task Force began the investigation Tuesday evening after a tip to a North Carolina law enforcement agency. While Hicks' warrants point to a potential attack two years from now, Alan Martin—a senior assistant district attorney covering Davidson County—said in an interview that there had been "some concern that there could be an imminent event" targeting the Houston synagogue. A potential motive for the planned violence wasn't immediately disclosed in North Carolina court documents. The investigation is continuing.