The Justice Department’s antisemitism task force is taking a far more visible approach, with Leo Terrell crisscrossing the country to meet Jewish communities where the pressure is real and the fear is immediate. On a 15-city tour, he is pushing a message that local officials have not done enough, and that federal agencies are ready to step in when schools, synagogues, and public spaces become targets.
Terrell says the point is not to hold a polished event and move on. The goal is to hear from people dealing with threats in daily life, then bring federal support closer to the communities that need it most. He described antisemitism as a present tense problem, not something waiting off in the distance.
“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 said. “Antisemitism is now, and we have to come up with solutions for the future.”
The tour, branded the “American Tour Against Hate,” began in Michigan and brings together officials from the Justice Department, FBI, and Labor Department. At each stop, the focus includes hate-crime enforcement, workplace concerns, and the growing anxiety Jewish students and families say they feel in their own neighborhoods.
Terrell said the rollout was designed for communities that feel ignored by local leadership. He pointed to cities where, in his view, hate crimes have not been handled aggressively enough and where victims have not seen the kind of response they deserve.
“We had the FBI at the first tour meeting because some of these cities have failed to prosecute hate crimes,” Terrell said, naming Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Detroit. He did not identify specific unprosecuted cases.
He also made clear that the schedule is meant to go beyond a quick appearance. Each stop includes a public event, followed by time in synagogues, Jewish schools, and community centers, where the conversations get much more personal and immediate.
“The tour is really two days,” he 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 urgency around the tour comes against a backdrop of rising concern over religiously motivated hate crimes. Federal data showed 1,528 single-bias anti-Jewish hate-crime incidents in 2025, and Jewish Americans accounted for 62.4% of victims of religious-bias hate crimes, underscoring how heavily the burden has fallen on one community.
Terrell framed protection for Jewish students and worshipers as nonstop work, not something that begins when there is a headline and fades when the cameras leave. He said the burden of security has become unfairly expensive for Jewish institutions, calling it a kind of “Jewish tax” just to stay safe.
Universities remain one of his biggest concerns. Terrell warned college presidents that the administration is watching, and that federal scrutiny will not disappear simply because time passes or political winds change.
“All these campus presidents are on notice,” he said. “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.”
He said schools that fail to protect Jewish students should expect continued pressure from the government. In his view, these are not one-off incidents that can be brushed aside, but ongoing violations that call for real accountability.
“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 also took aim at the way some campuses handle disputes, arguing that institutions should not be allowed to quietly settle around the problem. He wants the issue pushed into court if that is what it takes to force sustained change and protect students on campus.
“My philosophy is quite simple. Don’t cut deals with these guys,” Terrell added. “Force them to go to court, get a court order settlement to make sure they are under the gun to protect Jewish American students.”
Another piece of the issue, he said, involves outside money and influence shaping campus culture in ways that make antisemitism worse. Terrell said he believes foreign funding and organized pressure are part of the broader picture and should not be ignored.
“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.
He added that this angle is already part of the federal approach. “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,” he said.
Terrell is also reaching beyond Jewish communities and trying to bring in young Christians, arguing that the fight has to be wider than any single group. He recently spoke to more than 200 students at a Christian Leaders Summit Forum in Virginia, where he said the energy in the room mattered a great deal.
“This fight against antisemitism has to include everyone in this country,” he said. “Antisemitism is not a Jewish issue. It’s an American issue. It’s a Western civilization issue.”
He added, “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.”
For Jewish Americans who feel alone or left behind, Terrell said the message is simple and direct. The door, he said, is open, and help should not be out of reach when threats start turning into reality.
“I will never say no,” he said. “I will never say no to help. Call my office, call the Department of Justice.”
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Go Leo Go