The FBI has located a man with "radical, extremist views" that prompted it to warn synagogues across New Jersey of a security threat, the New York Times reported on Friday.
The man lives in New Jersey but has not been publicly identified and it was not clear whether he had been arrested or was facing criminal charges, the Times reported.
"He no longer poses a threat to the community," James Dennehy, the agent in charge of the FBI's Newark office, told the newspaper.
The FBI issued its unusual warning on Thursday afternoon, urging Jewish houses of worship to take every precaution to secure their communities and buildings.
A spokesperson for the Newark office did not respond to messages seeking comment. The Times said Dennehy told faith leaders in a conference call on Friday that the man had been located.
"He expressed radical, extremist views and ideology, as well as an extreme amount of hate against the Jewish community," Dennehy said on the call, according to the Times. He said the FBI believes the man has been acting alone.
In February, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned synagogues, churches and historically Black colleges and universities that they faced heightened threats from extremist groups.
The month before that, a British-born gunman took four people hostage for 10 hours at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, including its rabbi. The FBI stormed the synagogue, freeing the hostages, who were unharmed, and leaving the gunman dead.
In 2018, a man attacked congregants gathered for Sabbath services at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killing 11 people with a semi-automatic rifle.
Incidents of anti-Semitic propaganda in the United States rose by 27% in 2021, to 352 from 277 in the prior year, the Anti-Defamation League, a New York-based advocacy group, reported in March.
