The terrifying Jersey City shooting that left six people dead, including a police detective Joseph Seals and innocent three civilians, is now being labelled as an anti-semitic attack where Jewish people were clearly targeted.

This comes as the Mayor of Jersey City, Steven Funlop, has been posting rapid updates early Wednesday morning on his Twitter account, including one which stated: “after extensive review of our CCTV system it has now become clear from the cameras that these two individuals targeted the Kosher grocery location.” The initial reports from authorities indicated that the shooters had sought refuge in the store as police were closing in on them, with nothing suggesting that it was specifically targeted.

When asked for further information on the identities of the shooters, the Mayor referred people to the Attorney General’s office, stating that he legally can not provide that information.

Many have asked for more information on the individuals involved. Legally, that additional information on the background of all involved will need to come from the Attorney General’s office. — Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) December 11, 2019

However, multiple sources, including the New York Post, have identified the shooters as David Anderson and Francine Graham. Photos being circulated indicate both of them are African-American. As their identities have not been confirmed by authorities, The Evening Voice will not be sharing the photos at this time.

The New York Post article further indicates, citing unnamed sources, that David Anderson was a “one-time follower of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement.” This fact brings in a bizarre Donald Trump connection, due to the past of one of his most outspoken minority supporters.

He’s most commonly referred to as simply “Michael the Black Man,” but he is also known as Maurice Woodside, Michael Symonette and Mikael Israel. During the 2016 election campaign, viewers noticed him appearing prominently behind Trump at multiple rallies around the country. This was clearly no coincidence, as the proximity to Trump would require that he was hand-selected and cleared by the campaign and/or security staff.

Most often the man would be seen wearing a t-shirt that read “TRUMP & Republicans Are Not Racist” with the website “Gods2.com” written underneath. He would generally be holding a sign which read “BLACKS FOR TRUMP” and occasionally contained the same Gods2.com website written at the bottom of it. When visiting Gods2.com, users are met with a large bold message stating “LATIN, BLACK AND WHITE MUST UNITE!” There are then links to another website, “HonestFact.com,” which is laden with conspiracy theories, messages of hate, and more.

A YouTube video posted on HonestFact.com shows “Michael” discussing his connection to Yahweh ben Yahweh, leader of the Nation of Yahweh, which is described on Wikipedia as being “broadly classified as a branch of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement.” “Michael” was a member of the Nation of Yahweh.

The Jersey City shooting, as with all mass-shootings in the United States, is being used to push political agendas by people across the political spectrum. Gun control advocates are using the shooting as further evidence that it’s far too easy for criminals and those looking to do harm to get their hands on high powered weapons. Other users are claiming the shooters were “crazed leftist[s],” another user stating that “you can thank Obama for this,” and others connecting the event to the January 2019 Lincoln Memorial confrontation involving Nicholas Sandmann.

At the moment, there are still more questions than answers as to how and why the shooting took place, and more information is likely to come out during the coming days as investigators comb through the evidence, speak to witnesses, and conduct further research the suspects.

The three civilians victims of the shootings have been identified by community members as a 22-year-old customer, a 33-year-old co-owner of the store, and a delivery worker at the deli in the store. As their identities have not been confirmed by authorities, The Evening Voice is withholding their names.