ALBANY, N.Y. (Jan. 19, 2022) – On Saturday, an armed man took a rabbi and three others hostage at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. An FBI hostage rescue team was able to breach the synagogue and free the hostages, following a standoff that lasted more than 10 hours.
The FBI is investigating the standoff as a “terrorism-related” incident in which the Jewish community was targeted, and the events have renewed concerns about hate crimes and a rising number of anti-Semitic threats in the United States.
Experts at the University at Albany are available to offer insight on hostage crisis management, including response strategies like negotiation and tactical decisions, as well as the motives of terrorists and extremist groups.
UAlbany experts:
- Gary Ackerman, associate professor, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, focuses on understanding how terrorists and other adversaries make tactical, operational and strategic decisions, particularly regarding innovating in their use of weapons and tactics. As director of UAlbany’s Center for Advanced Red Teaming, Ackerman studies defensive systems and architectures, vulnerabilities, emerging threats and training of response personnel.
- Victor Asal, professor of political science, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, focuses on the choice of violence by nonstate organizational actors as well as the causes of political discrimination by states against different groups such as sexual minorities, women and ethnic groups. He currently serves as director of UAlbany’s Center for Policy Research.
- Brian Nussbaum, assistant professor, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, focuses on cyber threats, terrorism and terrorism analysis, homeland security, risk and intelligence analysis, and critical infrastructure protection. He formerly served as senior intelligence analyst with the New York State Office of Counter-Terrorism.
- Eric Stern, professor, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, is focused on the fields of crisis and emergency management, crisis communication, resilience, security studies, executive leadership, foreign policy analysis and political psychology. He is affiliated with the Swedish National Center for Crisis Management Research and Training at the Swedish Defense University (where he served as director from 2004-2011).
About the University at Albany:
A comprehensive public research university, the University at Albany-SUNY offers more than 120 undergraduate majors and minors and 125 master's, doctoral and graduate certificate programs. UAlbany is a leader among all New York State colleges and universities in such diverse fields as atmospheric and environmental sciences, business, education, public health, health sciences, criminal justice, emergency preparedness, engineering and applied sciences, informatics, public administration, social welfare and sociology, taught by an extensive roster of faculty experts. It also offers expanded academic and research opportunities for students through an affiliation with Albany Law School. With a curriculum enhanced by 600 study-abroad opportunities, UAlbany launches great careers.
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