Local prosecutor criticizes Rokita's antisemitism training as political grandstanding

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is promoting training to combat antisemitism for local prosecutors and law enforcement — a move at least one prosecutor is sharply criticizing.

In a letter to local officials, Rokita cited a sharp spike in reports of antisemitism after the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel last year and recent protests at Indiana University over Israel’s war in Gaza as reasons for the training.

Rokita said law enforcement should adopt a “zero tolerance” policy towards antisemitism and encouraged police to patrol synagogues and Jewish schools.

Longtime Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Shipman said prosecutors are already equipped to deal with violence against citizens of any background. In a letter to Rokita, Shipman said the training is unrelated to the duties of the attorney general’s office.

And Shipman, a Republican, accused fellow Republican Rokita of misusing his position to grandstand and further his own political ambitions.

Rokita’s office said the “interest and positive feedback” for the upcoming training are “overwhelming.”
 

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A flyer for the training lists speakers that include Indiana Solicitor General James Barta; Lorenzo Vidino, Director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University; and Jewish American Affairs Committee of Indiana President Allon Friedman.

Friedman’s organization bills itself as the creators of the original version of a controversial 2024 bill to define and ban antisemitism in state public education institutions.

At issue in the bill was the inclusion of a definition of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and examples used by the IHRA. Critics argued some of the examples equate criticism of the state of Israel with antisemitism.

After lawmakers reached a compromise on the legislation that left out the examples, Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoed the bill and instead signed a proclamation endorsing the IHRA definition and its examples.

In Rokita’s letter to local officials, he, too, encouraged law enforcement to use the IHRA definition of antisemitism and its examples as a “formal guide” for enforcing state law.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.