Naperville steps up security at religious sites after alleged Aurora Hindu temple plot

Washington: Police in Naperville, a Chicago suburb with a large Indian American population, have added patrols at religious sites and are offering free security assessments to places of worship, more than two weeks after an alleged plot to attack a Hindu temple in neighbouring Aurora was foiled.

Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres outlined the measures at an interfaith “Dialogue on Hate Crimes” held at Wesley United Methodist Church, local broadcaster NCTV17 reported. More than 50 people from at least seven faith communities attended.

“We have a group that will come in and does assessments of your places of worship,” Arres said. “Everything from where you have cameras, if you need them, where you may even trim bushes or add lighting to keep [your facility] safe, all kinds of free things that we’ll do to help the security of our community.”

He also encouraged faith leaders to take part in the department’s free Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events course. “If you see something suspicious, if you’re worried about something, you’re not bothering us, and it’s okay to call 911 in those situations,” he said.

The gathering was organised by United for Peace and the Naperville Interfaith Leaders Association after the alleged plot targeting the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora on October 11, the first day of Navaratri.

“The manifesto the shooter had expressed hate towards many communities and the Jewish community, African Americans, Indians, and others,” said Shalini Gupta, a board member of United for Peace.

Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli said: “There was an attempted attack on our residents, members of our community, who were at a Hindu temple in Aurora, by somebody who was full of hate and all sorts of ideas that our community just does not tolerate.”

“I find it ironic that hate has brought us together here to have real community conversations, but those conversations have to continue not just when tragedies occur,” he said. Aurora Mayor John Laesch also attended.

Saily Joshi, a Naperville resident, said: “To see that happen so close to home, it was scary, that’s a temple that our family goes to.”

Rabbi David Eber of Congregation Beth Shalom said synagogues across America were already taking similar security measures.

Prosecutors allege that Alexandros Paporakis, 19, of Palatine, a self-identified neo-Nazi, tried to shoot a man outside the temple but his rifle jammed, and that he wrote an eight-page white supremacist manifesto describing violence against people of Indian descent at a Hindu house of worship.

He faces state charges of making a terrorist threat and unlawful possession of a short-barrelled rifle, according to the Palatine Police Department. His next court date is October 30.

No federal charges have been announced. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has indicated it is reviewing the case.

A group of 105 members of Congress led by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, who was at the temple with his family during the attempted attack, has asked FBI Director Kash Patel to say by October 29 whether the bureau is investigating the plot as a federal hate crime.