Connecticut Experiences 270-Percent Increase in Antisemitic Incidents Over Five Years

Business targeting surges; state ranked #9 for K-12 incidents

Bridgeport, CT, May 6, 2026, … Connecticut recorded 126 antisemitic incidents in 2025, a staggering 270-percent increase from the 34 incidents recorded in 2021, according to ADL's (the Anti-Defamation League) annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, released today. While incidents in Connecticut declined 21 percent from 2024 to 2025, this is less than the national 33-percent decrease, and the five-year trend reveals that antisemitism remains at historically elevated levels. The year-over-year decrease reflects ADL’s sustained advocacy, legislative victories and partnerships with law enforcement and educational institutions across the state. The data also reveals shifts in how antisemitism manifests, with incidents at Connecticut business establishments surging to 14, up from 3 in 2024.

“Over the past five years, Connecticut has experienced a 270-percent increase in antisemitic incidents. While we saw a decline from 2024 to 2025, antisemitism remains at historically elevated levels. What's particularly concerning is that antisemitism is adaptive. The spike in business targeting shows hate is migrating to new locations. ADL’s response has been equally adaptive, building the infrastructure to combat hate through legislation and helping to hold perpetrators accountable under hate crime laws. We will continue this work so that Connecticut is a place where all people feel safe,” said Stacey Sobel, ADL Connecticut Regional Director.

Although Connecticut is the 29th most populous state, it ranked #14 in the United States for total antisemitic incidents and #9 for incidents at K-12 schools. Additionally, 34 percent of CT incidents were related to Israel or Zionism in 2025, down from 46 percent of the CT incidents in 2024.

Notable Incidents

In 2025, State Senator Matt Lesser was targeted with online threats when an individual posted that Lesser deserved a bullet through his face, referenced the Tree of Life synagogue mass shooting and publicly posted Lesser's home address. ADL provided direct support, and the perpetrator was arrested and charged with second-degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias, electronic stalking and disorderly conduct.

A “Star of David swastika” symbol appeared as graffiti seven times across four separate towns in Fairfield County during the summer of 2025. Through ADL's coordination with law enforcement agencies from all four towns and intelligence from ADL's Center on Extremism, the Fairfield Police Department and the Westport Police Department located, arrested and charged the perpetrator.

ADL Connecticut's work in 2025 demonstrates how systemic infrastructure and sustained advocacy create lasting change. After more than a year of advocacy along with community partners, Connecticut passed legislation establishing a Working Group to Address Antisemitism in K-12 Schools. Governor Ned Lamont signed the bill into law in March 2026, making Connecticut a leading state on addressing school-based antisemitism.

In a separate landmark legal victory, Paul Boyne was convicted of 18 counts of cyberstalking in March 2026, concluding a nine-year case that began in 2017. Boyne operated a virulently antisemitic website targeting primarily Jewish judges, attorneys and child advocates. ADL drafted and secured passage of Connecticut legislation in 2021 criminalizing doxing and codifying stalking as a hate crime, then worked with law enforcement to build the case. The first-degree felony stalking charges would not have been possible without ADL's efforts to pass this critical legislation.

National Trends

This regional data reflects broader national trends. Nationally, 2025 marked one of the most violent periods for American Jews, with physical assaults reaching record high levels and antisemitic attacks resulting in fatalities on American soil for the first time since 2022 and in Jewish fatalities for the first time since 2019, according to ADL's annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, released today.

Across the country, there were 6,274 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism in 2025, an average of 17 incidents per day. While this total represents a 33-percent decrease from 2024, it remains considerably higher than the total in years prior to the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel, and ranks as the third-highest year for antisemitic incidents (after 2023 and 2024), since ADL began tracking in 1979.

Even as overall incidents decreased nationally, physical assaults increased by 4 percent, and incidents of assault involving a deadly weapon increased by 39 percent. Moreover, three people were murdered in antisemitic attacks this past year: two victims in the May 21, 2025, shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and one victim who died from injuries sustained in the June 1, 2025, firebombing attack at a "Run for Their Lives" event in Boulder, Colorado.

Methodology

The ADL Audit includes both criminal and non-criminal acts of harassment, vandalism and assault against individuals and groups as reported to ADL by victims, law enforcement, the media and partner organizations and evaluated by ADL's experts.

The complete dataset for antisemitic incidents for 2016-2025 is available on ADL's H.E.A.T. Map, an interactive online tool that allows users to geographically chart antisemitic incidents and extremist activity. The full dataset can also be downloaded by anyone who would like to take a closer look at individual incidents.

ADL is careful to not conflate general criticism of Israel or anti-Israel activism with antisemitism. Legitimate political protest, support for Palestinian rights or expressions of opposition to Israeli policies is not included in the Audit. As an example, slightly fewer than half of anti-Israel rallies assessed by ADL contained antisemitic content that qualified to be counted within this Audit. ADL's approach to Israel-related expressions comports with the IHRA definition of antisemitism. The complete Audit methodology is included in the report on our website.

The Audit offers a snapshot of one of the ways American Jews encounter antisemitism, but a full understanding of antisemitism in the U.S. requires other forms of analysis as well, including public opinion polling, assessments of online antisemitism and examinations of extremist activity, all of which ADL offers in other reports.

Individuals who experience an incident of antisemitism can report it to ADL:  https://www.adl.org/report-incident.