Federation security director looks back on 2025 and ahead to 2026

When the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s community security director, Shawn Brokos, looks back on the past year, one thing that strikes her is the high number of federal arrests in Pittsburgh related to antisemitism.

“Not all of the individuals were charged with hate crimes,” she said of the eight federal defendants, “but scratching below the crimes for which they were charged, there is a motivating factor of antisemitism.”

Brokos said that often the initial crime appears to be insignificant — graffiti painted on a sign at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, for instance — but once additional information about the perpetrator is discovered, the significance amplifies.

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“There were many people who initially said, ‘It’s just graffiti. We get it. It’s not great but how could it rise to the level of federal prosecution?’ Well, it absolutely did. Then we learned the multiple facets below the layer as it related to the perpetrators.”

In October 2024 Talya Lubit and Mohamad Hamad were arrested for painting antisemitic graffiti at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and Chabad of Squirrel Hill. A superseding indictment from the federal government followed shortly after, connecting Micaiah Collins to the pair. Collins, who allegedly built bombs with Hamad, is the daughter of Valley View Presbyterian Church’s Pastor Chad Collins.

Lubit eventually reached a plea deal with the federal government. Collins and Hamad, who identifies as a Hamas operative, are awaiting trial.

Brokos said a similar pattern emerged concerning two individuals who were holding Nazi flags on area bridges.

“Once we scratched below the surface, we saw that one of the perpetrators was looking to do highly vicious and violent acts in furtherance of his ideology,” she said.

And while one might be disheartened by the number of antisemitic incidents that occurred in the region last year —312, compared to 283 in 2024, and 300 in 2023 — Brokos said there is a bright spot.

“Our community excels in reporting and collaborating with law enforcement, not taking anything at face value,” she said. “That’s what sets our community apart from those across the country.”

Federal arrests were only one part of last year’s security landscape, though.

The Maccabi Games brought about 2000 teenage athletes to Pittsburgh over the summer, and despite a few anti-Israel protests, went off without a hitch. More than $10 million dollars in state and federal grants were awarded to Jewish institutions to enhance security. The BluePoint security system was installed in 36 locations. License Plate Recognition cameras were installed throughout Squirrel Hill. And 29 police boxes were added throughout the community. Those were just a few of the Federation’s security team’s accomplishments, Brokos noted.

Installing license plate recognition cameras, she said, was one of the more beneficial developments.

“We know for a fact that those cameras were used to locate and arrest two threat actors,” Brokos said. “We saw the direct correlation between a technology that was very much in need to protect our community and its value.”

Another achievement was the hiring of Deputy Director of Community Security Eric Kroll, who was brought on in 2024 but completed his first full year in 2025.

Kroll, a retired Pittsburgh police officer, “was able to identify and triage incidents in an effective manner,” Brokos said. “And he was essential during the Maccabi Games. He led the law enforcement and community coordination and worked for close to a year coordinating 21 law enforcement agencies ensuring the games were safe and without incident.”

Looking ahead, the Federation recently hired Ed Milligan to serve as Community Security Intelligence Analyst, an expansion of Federation’s partnership with the Secure Community Network. He’ll begin work in February.

Brokos said she’d like to see more people sign up this year to take part in Federation’s Virtual Community Watch program and is working to enhance connectivity between Federation’s security team and the area’s Jewish institutions.

Federation is working with another organization, Community Security Service, on the CSS Synagogue program, a pilot initiative that will provide training to help congregations educate members and form professional-grade security teams.

“A lot of them are already doing this on their own but we want to unify the training, and we’d like to do this with our campus organizations, as well,” Brokos said.

Federation is also looking to increase coordination with the region’s Jewish institutions as they plan and host events, Brokos explained.

“In the aftermath of Oct. 7, we’re now asking that our organizations plan and coordinate with us so we can notify local law enforcement of the event, potentially request additional patrols or coordinate armed guard coverage. This is something we’ve been doing but are encouraging everyone to coordinate through us,” she said.

Pittsburgh continues to operate under an increased threat level, Brokos said, noting that there was an increase in antisemitic activity in the last week, including the vandalism of an Israeli flag on the North Side.

In 2026, Brokos said, Federation’s security team continues with the same mission they have each year: “to keep the community as safe as possible.” PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.