After Communication Breakdown, Task Force on Antisemitism Will Not Meet With Boston This Week

Officials from the Department of Justice task force on antisemitism were set to meet with Boston city leadership on Wednesday, but without communication from Washington, a city official confirmed that the meeting is no longer scheduled for this week.

Representatives from the task force, which the Trump administration created in February to “root out anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on college campuses,” met with Boston officials on April 9 ahead of a broader meeting the DOJ had scheduled at City Hall on Wednesday.

While multiple news outlets reported definitively that a meeting between DOJ and Boston officials was planned for this week, local officials have yet to hear back from the task force.

The meeting in early April was “primarily to scope out venues for a future meeting,” James Borghesani, a spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, wrote in a statement. “Very little occurred” there, he added.

A city spokesperson confirmed that staff from the Suffolk County DA’s office also attended the meeting, alongside Jeremy Burton, chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston.

“During the meeting, both the representatives of the Mayor and of District Attorney Hayden requested additional information about specific incidents of antisemitic harassment and violence (as referenced in the original DOJ meeting request) in order to best prepare for the proposed upcoming meeting,” Burton wrote.

He added that “neither the Mayor nor D.A.’s representatives refused to meet with the federal antisemitism task force.”

Immediately after the April 9 meeting, Boston city officials repeatedly requested that the task force provide details on specific incidents of antisemitism.

“We continue to seek information prior to accepting a meeting with the Task Force,” a city spokesperson wrote in an April 9 statement.

But even before the meeting, Boston officials sent the DOJ a March 21 letter requesting that the task force specify incidents of antisemitism that they were investigating.

“In order to ensure that we are prepared for a productive discussion with you and your team, we ask that the division share with us any information on the incidents of antisemitic conduct in Boston referenced in your letter,” the letter read.

The city was waiting to confirm the April 23 meeting until receiving this information. But as of Tuesday night, the task force has not responded.

Borghesani wrote that the task force has yet to take steps to confirm the second meeting.

“We have not been contacted by the task force regarding a followup meeting,” he wrote.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the meeting and its apparent delay.

The task force announced on March 13 that it would be visiting Boston, along with New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, “to discuss their responses to incidents of antisemitism at schools and on college campuses in their cities over the last two years.” The task force has also taken aim at Harvard and nine other universities.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached at matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.