FB-ISAO Releases an All-Faiths Analysis of Attacks on U.S. Houses of Worship in 2024

The number of incidents involving casualties increased significantly by thirty-three percent

HERNDON, VA, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Faith-Based Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (FB-ISAO) has released its 2nd annual analysis and review of Attacks On Houses of Worship. Being an all-faiths and all-hazards information-sharing organization FB-ISAO examines the threat to all-faiths and denominations as opposed to others who may focus on one. We also examine the full spectrum of threats and attacks that diverse faith-based institutions face.

FB-ISAO tracked a total of 841 attacks on Houses of Worship during 2024. While the total number of incidents declined 18% from 2023, the number of incidents involving casualties increased by 33%, indicating a marked increase in violence.

Data is collected daily from an AI-filtered stream fed by 400 open-source websites from news media, news aggregators, non-profit research organizations, bloggers, social media, and government. The data span the ideological, political, and religious spectra. Only attacks with a named target and verified date, location, and source are logged. According to Ed Heyman, co-chair of FB-ISAO’s Operational Resilience Group and the project’s principal data collector and analyst, “We undertook this effort to improve decision making with regards to securing our communities. Our biggest takeaway has been that attack types houses of worship face vary by faith, location, and demographics. This finding is counter to the cookie-cutter solutions they often apply, and recommends a more data-driven approach.”

The 2024 threat data report, includes key findings and implications for securing houses of worship, is available here. Some notable findings include:
• Attacks in 2024 decreased 18% from 2023. The largest decrease was in bomb threats, down 52%. Despite the overall decline in numbers, violence and casualties increased.
• Across all incidents the most common implements of violence reported were the assailants’ hands and everyday objects found on-scene.
• 80% of attacks are crimes against property, not individuals.
• 59% of all attacks occur outside the target facility. Only 26% occur inside. The remaining constitute non-physical threats.
• Attacks on Jewish, Muslim and Catholic Houses of Worship, who represent less than 10% of all congregations, are targeted disproportionately in 44% of all attacks.
• Mosques, Protestant, and Catholic churches are predominantly the victims of physical attacks. Synagogues are more often subject to virtual or psychological attacks.
• Forty-eight (48) states and the District of Columbia experienced at least one attack. More than half (52%) of all incidents were clustered in nine states. California, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas absorbing 37% of all attacks.

These and other findings are explored in greater depth in the report. With this being the second year of reporting, we are able to perform a year-on-year analysis of the data which provides a deeper understanding of the threat landscape and could further assist with making fact-based, data-driven decisions to help secure people and places of faith. This year’s report also includes a case study analysis of attacks on Protestant Churches.

In 2024, the FB-ISAO was the recipient of a grant award from the Department of Justice. The grant award would have funded the operationalization of threat data into a series of resilience workshops for Houses of Worships across the country. With more robust analysis of hate crime data and a deeper drill down into threat types and locations, the FB-ISAO would have been able to develop prevention and response exercises for Houses of Worship and their law enforcement partners. Unfortunately, the grant funding was rescinded in April 2025 thus robbing beneficiaries of the opportunity to enhance community preparedness.

The Faith-Based Information Sharing and Analysis Organization serves as a trusted partner at the center of a national network of faith-based organizations and associations that have been informed and equipped to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from incidents arising from all-hazards, ensuring the resilience and continuity of these important community assets that include Cybersecurity incidents, Physical security incidents, Public health incidents and Natural disasters. Find us at FB-ISAO and LinkedIn.

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If you would like more information about this topic, please call Mayya Saab at 703.963.3459, or email mayya@faithbased-isao.org.

Mayya Saab
FB-ISAO
+1 703-963-3459
email us here

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