As a gunman approached a police cruiser outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, approximately two dozen people were inside praying for Yom Kippur.

The armed officer stationed outside was not part of a permanent security program available to synagogues across Canada. Police had sent him to the location after receiving a report about a suspicious vehicle—a decision that may have prevented a massacre.

“The only thing that stood in the way of every congregant of that shul being murdered was the presence of an armed police officer,” Simon Wolle, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, told News Media.

Police said last week’s shooting was a deliberate, hate-motivated attack aimed at the Jewish community. Authorities allege that 29-year-old Sean Ward approached Belleville Police Constable Jeff Smith and shouted, “You are going to die for the Jews,” before firing a shotgun at him.

Smith was hit several times while inside his cruiser. Despite his injuries, he got out of the vehicle and returned fire. A second officer arrived within minutes and joined the confrontation. Ward later died in hospital.

Smith remains hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body, as well as serious head trauma. Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd said Smith will require multiple surgeries and faces a “lengthy and challenging” recovery, while adding that the officer is “making progress every day.”

Smith’s wife, Ashley, has also spoken publicly about his recovery, calling the shooting “the scariest and darkest day of our lives.”

“My words aren’t strong or steady yet, but I knew I needed to find them,” she wrote. “I needed to use my voice for my dear Jeff, until he is able to use his.”

Ashley Smith also spoke directly to the Jewish community, thanking those who have supported her husband and their family. “Please know that your love, your prayers and your support have reached us,” she wrote. “We are deeply grateful. We love you, we see you, we pray for you.”

She said her husband still faces “a very long, difficult road ahead,” but added that he is surrounded by what she described as “an army of love.”

None of the worshipers inside the synagogue was physically injured.

Investigators later said the gunman had what Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd called the “means, motive and mechanisms to cause a mass casualty and the destruction of the Jewish synagogue.” Police also found combustible materials inside the suspect’s vehicle.

“This individual had the means, the intention, the deliberate plans and the capacity to conduct a murderous massacre,” Wolle said.

For Wolle, the attack highlighted more than a single act of antisemitic violence. He said it exposed legal and security arrangements that leave Jewish institutions across Canada dangerously vulnerable.

B’nai Brith Canada is urging federal and provincial lawmakers to change the law so synagogues, Jewish schools and other vulnerable institutions can hire qualified armed security guards.

“There is currently no legislation in place that allows for Jewish institutions to hire the kind of armed protection that may be necessary,” Wolle said.

Firearms regulations in Canada are controlled federally, while private security is governed separately under provincial rules. Wolle said the two frameworks must be coordinated so institutions facing credible threats have a lawful option to employ trained, licensed armed guards.

At present, he said, Jewish institutions can ask police departments to increase patrols, although departments cannot always guarantee that an officer will be stationed outside. Communities can also try to hire paid-duty police officers, but availability remains limited.

“So the only option right now for the Jewish community to protect itself from the unprecedented amount of violent attacks taking place all across this country is to plead with local police services to come by if they can,” Wolle said. “They will not guarantee that they will do so in most circumstances.”

That leaves Jewish communities spending their own money to reinforce buildings, install surveillance systems and hire officers when available.

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“Right now, the Jewish community is using its own money primarily to build walls, put up stronger fences, add cameras and then pay for the privilege of having an armed police officer,” Wolle said. “Our lives are being threatened across the country, and the government hasn’t taken the steps to offer the necessary protection.”

B’nai Brith has made two requests. It wants laws amended to permit qualified armed private security at vulnerable Jewish institutions, and it wants the government to fund an increased police presence at those locations.

Wolle said the burden of protecting Jewish Canadians from targeted violence should not rest solely on the people being threatened.

“The government needs to meet its most basic obligation and responsibility, which is to protect its citizens,” he said.

The numbers provide a stark context for his concerns. Statistics Canada recorded 788 police-reported hate crimes targeting Jewish people in 2025, representing more than 70% of all reported religiously motivated hate crimes that year.

Wolle said Jewish Canadians constitute approximately 1% to 2% of the country’s population, yet remain overwhelmingly affected by religiously motivated hate crimes. Preliminary data from B’nai Brith’s 2026 annual audit indicate that violent antisemitic incidents have already more than tripled compared with the total recorded throughout 2025.

“There is a national crisis of Jew hatred in Canada,” Wolle said.

B’nai Brith has been warning for months that antisemitic violence is accelerating. Wolle said the organization submitted recommendations and concrete plans to different levels of government before the Belleville attack.

“We’ve been calling for many things from all levels of government,” he said. “We provided concrete action plans to each.”

The shooting has intensified the organization’s demand that lawmakers treat the security of Jewish institutions as an emergency rather than another subject for future discussion.

“The most urgent thing that is needed is a mechanism for there to be armed protection of Jewish institutions that are under attack right now in Canada,” Wolle said.

He emphasized that B’nai Brith is not calling for firearms to be placed indiscriminately inside synagogues and schools. Its proposal concerns trained, vetted and qualified security professionals operating under a clearly defined legal framework.

“If we don’t have enough armed officers, then we need legislative frameworks changed to allow for alternative armed guards to protect Jewish institutions,” Wolle said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned the Belleville attack and called on anyone with information to contact law enforcement.

“On the holiest night of the Jewish calendar, a shooting took place outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville,” Carney said. “Jewish people must be able to worship safely. To live free, open, proud Jewish lives.”

Wolle welcomes expressions of support and said Canadian Jews now need their government to move beyond statements.

“The government gives us words and no action,” he added.

Belleville offered a disturbing picture of what could have happened without an armed officer outside. The congregants did not know that a man police say was driven by hatred had allegedly arrived with weapons and the capacity to cause mass casualties.

One report of a suspicious vehicle led to one officer being placed outside. That officer, Wolle stressed, became the barrier between the gunman and the people praying inside.

“In the wake of these harrowing events, Canada’s Jewish community cannot wait any longer for the government to act,” he said.

The people inside the synagogue, Sons of Jacob, survived. Wolle’s warning is that Canada cannot depend on chance, a suspicious-vehicle report or the availability of a single officer the next time a Jewish institution is targeted.

“This is not a Jewish community problem,” he said. “This is a Canadian problem.”

Patrick Keating and his parents supported Donald Trump believing his hard-line immigration agenda would target criminals. They never expected those policies could eventually put their own family in the crosshairs.

Now, fewer than 12 months into Trump’s second term, the Bellaire family is confronting the possibility that Keating’s Honduran wife, Anyi Hernandez-Escobar, could be deported. Their 16-month-old daughter might leave with her, while the seven-year-old boy Hernandez-Escobar has helped raise could remain in the United States.

Immigration was once, for the conservative family, largely a debate about border security and the removal of criminals. Hernandez-Escobar’s case has transformed that political issue into a painful personal crisis.

“If I could go back, if my vote would somehow change everything, I’d go back and vote Kamala just so we don’t have to deal with this,” Keating said.

Hernandez-Escobar arrived in the United States from Honduras in 2018, eight months pregnant and escaping what she called a desperate situation. After crossing into Texas, she spent four days in detention before being granted temporary parole to remain in the country.

She eventually reunited with her sister, settled into life in Texas and attended the immigration appointments required of her. She also gave birth to her son, Daniel.

Later, she met Patrick. The two married, and he became a father figure to Daniel. In May 2025, they welcomed a daughter, Emma.

Throughout that time, Hernandez-Escobar’s immigration case proceeded slowly through an increasingly complex legal system as she searched for a lawful way to remain in America.

The couple understood that marriage to a US citizen would not automatically give Hernandez-Escobar legal status. They also knew that having children born in the United States would not, by itself, block her removal. Still, they believed they were pursuing the proper legal route. After nearly two years of waiting, their I-130 and I-130A petitions were approved in June.

Soon afterward, however, their situation changed dramatically.

A Houston immigration judge refused Hernandez-Escobar’s request to pause her removal case while she moved forward with the next phase of her application.

Her lawyer, Jennifer Lopez, attributed the ruling to a June agreement between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Department of Justice. The deal ended a Biden-era approach that allowed immigration judges to administratively close some cases.

Lopez said the judge had previously suggested he would close Hernandez-Escobar’s case temporarily while she pursued an immigration process based on her marriage to Keating.

“Originally, the judge had told her, when Biden was in, ‘Go ahead and file your I-130, come back to me and I will administratively close your case,’” Lopez said. “They did that, but by the time they got back to him, Trump had been sworn in and they had changed all the rules.”

The policy shift has placed the family in a situation they say they never expected to face just months earlier.

Because Hernandez-Escobar entered the country without authorization, she cannot simply stay in the United States while applying for a green card. Under the process outlined by her attorney, she would have to return to Honduras, apply for an immigrant visa through a US consulate and seek a waiver of inadmissibility.

That waiver is generally available only to immigrants who are not already in removal proceedings. Administrative closure would have temporarily removed Hernandez-Escobar from that obstacle. Without it, her attorney says, the family may ultimately have no option but to move to Honduras.

And that is where the family encounters yet another hurdle, Hernandez-Escobar’s seven-year-old son Daniel may not be able to go with her.

Patrick has helped raise Daniel since the boy was about 18 months old, but he has no legal custodial rights. Daniel’s biological father, who lives in Maryland, has reportedly refused to surrender those rights and does not communicate with his son.

The family is now paying a family-law attorney to explore whether Patrick can adopt Daniel, while also considering whether the boy could remain with his grandparents if his mother, stepfather and baby sister have to leave.

‘I’ve raised him basically since he was a year and a half, but I have no custodial rights over him,’ Patrick explained. ‘Only Anyi and his biological father do. But both parents have to sign off on the passport.’

His greatest fear is that Daniel could become trapped in a legal limbo.

‘The scary part would be that Daniel can get lost in the legal foster care system, or somehow end up with a man he doesn’t know,’ he said.

The family’s predicament is all the more striking because Keating and his parents supported Trump at the ballot box, believing his immigration policies would primarily target criminals and people who posed a threat.

Hernandez-Escobar, who cannot vote herself, said she had supported Trump’s promise to remove criminals from the country.

‘There was a lot of crime in the country. I thought it was good to deport the bad people,’ she said. ‘Now, it doesn’t matter if you’re a good person or a bad person.’

As the family contemplates a possible move to Honduras, Keating’s mother-in-law Ingrid faces the prospect of caring for Daniel as she and her husband approach retirement – something neither had ever expected.

‘We’ll do what it takes to get through this,’ she said. ‘It’s been very stressful because we know it stresses their family. It is a different world from what my husband and I anticipated.’

Yet for all the turmoil, her position on Trump remains more complicated than a simple change of heart.

‘Immigration has been such a mess for so many years, but of course it’s easy not to pay too much attention when it’s not your immediate family,’ she said. ‘Now, all of a sudden, it really brings it home.’ 

‘I still like a lot of what he’s done, though not everything,’ she said. ‘When you’re going for the gang members and closing the borders, I think that’s really important.’

What she cannot accept, however, is the prospect of a child being separated from his parents.

‘Daniel needs to be with his parents and his sister,’ she said. ‘He loves them dearly. He loves us, but as his grandparents. But children need to be with their parents.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Keating for comment. 

WASHINGTON — Comedian Russell Brand, who was previously married to pop star Katy Perry, drew attention at the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) summit after making a pointed joke while moderating a panel, weeks before his scheduled rape trial in the United Kingdom.

Brand was slightly late taking the stage to lead a discussion about proposed reforms to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the agency’s administrator, attributed the delay to Brand embracing Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins backstage.

“She initiated that contact; I should make clear,” Brand told the audience, prompting laughter.

The remark came as Brand prepares to go on trial beginning Oct. 12 in Britain. He faces multiple charges involving alleged rape, oral rape, sexual assault and assault, stemming from accusations made by six women and dating from 1999 through the 2000s.

Brand has strongly rejected the allegations and entered pleas of not guilty. He has maintained that he never engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity and was released on conditional bail last year.

After the charges were initially announced, Brand addressed them in a video, acknowledging his past struggles with substance abuse and what he called sex addiction. “I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile,” he said.

“But what I never was, was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in nonconsensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes,” Brand added.

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Brand also acknowledged earlier this year that he had consensual sex with a 16-year-old girl when he was 30. Although 16 was the legal age of consent in the United Kingdom at the time, he described the encounter as “exploitative.”

According to a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4, one woman accused Brand of raping her without using protection at her Los Angeles home in or around 2012.

Brand has publicly aligned himself with the MAHA movement, which focuses on broad health and wellness reforms.

The summit also featured former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, who joined a panel examining brain injuries and their effects.

Tyson was convicted in the 1990s of raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington and served three years in prison.

Organizers described the MAHA summit as a gathering of prominent figures from the movement, intended to highlight its achievements over the previous year and outline its priorities for the future.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Cheryl Hines — known for starring in “Curb Your Enthusiasm” — and Vice President JD Vance were also scheduled to address attendees at the event, held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration suffered a major setback Tuesday after a judge ordered New York City to abandon its flawed rollout of the new pied-à-terre tax and begin the process again.

Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Wayne Ozzi’s ruling deals a significant blow to one of Mamdani’s signature initiatives. It also comes as casino mogul Steve Wynn and former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross joined the legal challenge seeking to block the tax.

Ozzi found that the city acted in an “arbitrary” and “capricious” manner by sending notices to New Yorkers who were not actually supposed to be covered by the surcharge on luxury second homes.

Under the ruling, thousands of notices must be “cancelled.” The city Department of Finance must then start over and issue new notices individually, after reviewing each property owner’s circumstances.

Approved by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature, the tax targets unoccupied, non-primary residences. It applies to one- to three-family homes valued at $5 million or more, as well as co-ops and condominiums worth at least $1 million.

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Randy Mastro, who brought the lawsuit on behalf of Staten Island homeowners, celebrated the decision, which the administration is expected to appeal.

“We’re gratified that the court has recognized we were right all along. The fact is that this administration failed to follow state law when it burdened New York City homeowners with proving they live in their own homes or be on the hook for paying a new surcharge,” Mastro said.

“Now the administration must go back and do what it should have done from the start: use all the information at its disposal to make an individualized ‘initial determination’ about who truly owes this surcharge before demanding that they pay it.”

The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ozzi issued his ruling as Wynn, whose primary residence is in Palm Beach, Florida, filed a separate lawsuit in Suffolk County arguing that the tax is “unconstitutional.” According to the state suit filed Monday, Wynn was notified in July that he owed a $183,000 surcharge on his Manhattan property.

The Mamdani administration has said the tax is expected to generate more than $500 million annually for schools, libraries and other essential public services.

Iranian authorities have reinforced security operations in Tehran and several other cities, deploying motorcycle patrols, checkpoints and personnel at key urban sites as officials prepare for the possibility of renewed unrest, according to multiple sources inside Iran who spoke to News Media.

The heightened security comes as university students have once again taken to the streets in Tehran. Videos published by Iran International show demonstrations over compulsory hijab regulations, increasing education expenses and political repression.

Sources in Iran told News Media that motorcycle units have been active in Tehran and other cities during events linked to the annual “Sacred Defense Week.” Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij paramilitary force and regular law enforcement have also been stationed at major intersections, squares and other prominent locations.

The sources said security personnel have been stopping pedestrians, searching some people and checking mobile phones for content authorities may classify as “anti-regime.”

The reports come after the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI’s) Committee on Security and Counterterrorism alleged that the Army, IRGC, Basij and law enforcement had been placed on “100%” alert, with leave canceled through Sept. 27. The NCRI further claimed that 51,000 personnel were deployed across Greater Tehran, including 30,000 IRGC and Basij members and 21,000 law enforcement officers. News Media has not independently verified those figures or the broader claims. The reported mobilization coincides with renewed signs of discontent on university campuses.

One Tehran source said the security operation reaches well beyond the uniformed forces visible on city streets.

“Motorcyclists are photographing shops, while prisoners are being threatened and pressured to tell their families not to take part in any protests that may emerge,” the source said.

According to the source, Basij members with previous military training have been placed on standby and are being housed or gathered at schools and large compounds on Tehran’s outskirts.

The security measures reportedly extend across the country rather than being confined to the capital. “This situation exists in all cities, but the nature of the presence and the way things are organized differ,” the source told News Media, referring to information from Borujen, Isfahan and other locations.

The source said plainclothes agents are more common outside Tehran, where they seek to avoid public attention. In the capital, however, security personnel have appeared openly in military uniforms and equipment in what the source described as an effort to intimidate residents. The source also said leave had been canceled in smaller cities and that authorities were increasing surveillance of businesses, phone communications and daily activities.

Iranian journalist Mehdi Ghadimi, who now lives outside the country after years of opposition activity, told News Media that he had received comparable reports.

“I’ve received reports of new checkpoints being set up in Tehran, along with reports that military forces have been placed on alert and that civilians previously trained by the regime for urban repression are being called up,” Ghadimi said. He added that people were being detained on espionage accusations simply for communicating with individuals outside Iran.

Ghadimi also said he had heard that people with serious criminal records were released from prison on the condition that they report to local Basij bases and help authorities suppress demonstrations.

Students at Tehran’s Allameh Tabataba’i University protested Monday over compulsory hijab rules, higher tuition and living conditions on campus, according to videos reported by Iran International on Sept. 28 and 29. The footage showed students chanting against the morality police and broader political repression.

Iran International reported that the gathering initially focused on tuition, dormitory and food expenses before turning into a wider protest against the government. Citing the student outlet Amirkabir, the news organization said Basij members tried to break up the demonstration and threatened participants.

The campus protests are also unfolding amid renewed debate over the enforcement of compulsory hijab rules at universities. On Sept. 8, Iran International reported that a senior official in the supreme leader’s university representative office said a new mandatory-hijab directive had been drafted and was expected to be issued by the ministries responsible for higher education.

Separately, the IRGC escalated its rhetoric toward Washington on Tuesday, with spokesman Hossein Mohebbi calling on Americans to pressure President Donald Trump’s administration. “This lying administration must be changed,” Mohebbi said at a Tehran press conference, according to Reuters video distributed Sept. 29.

His remarks came as U.S. and Iranian officials continued indirect contacts through mediators in an effort to end the seven-month conflict, Reuters reported.

The combination of visible security preparations and renewed demonstrations is fueling speculation among Iranians about whether the country could face another broader wave of unrest.

“The reality is that nobody knows what’s going to happen,” Ghadimi told News Media. “Everyone I talk to says that this situation cannot continue and that, somehow, it has to come to an end.”