Ordinarily at Jihad Watch, I “introduce” someone who has earned my, and I hope when I’m done with them, your contempt. People like Roger Waters, or Zohran Mamdani, or Peter Beinart, or George Galloway, or Tucker Carlson. Leo Terrell is not in their company. He’s their opposite. The theologically inclined (Jewish division) can think of Leo Terrell as one of the 36 Lamed Vavniks, the 36 Just Men whose existence causes God to stay his punishing hand from the universe. Or you can think of him as a “Righteous Gentile,” along with such people as Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg, Miep Gies, and Irina Sendler. Or think of Leo Terrell simply as a very good man.
More on Leo Terrell can be found here: “Leo Terrell’s civil rights roots fuel his fight against antisemitism,” by Eve Glover, Jerusalem Post, April 24, 2026:
A “child of the ‘60s” inspired by the civil rights movement, Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice, always knew that he wanted to fight for people to have equal rights in the legal arena.He expressed his gratitude to his parents, both of whom came from Jackson, Mississippi, for raising him in a Baptist home that welcomed people of all faiths and ethnicities. He recalled how his family had Jewish doctors and lawyers. He told the Magazine, “We had an open door. We didn’t see color or religion, we just saw friends.”Although Terrell grew up in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, he said the schools he attended “were initially segregated but they were integrated, so I had tremendous early exposure.” He attended Gardena Senior High School in Southern California, which he described as “the United Nations, a combination of every ethnic group.”Despite being educated in a multicultural environment, he still experienced racism. “I knew for a fact that kids were segregated based on race. I saw that, I experienced that,” Terrell said. “It was a blessing of having all different types, people in school, but you also saw some people who didn’t understand or appreciate different ethnic differences.” He remembered becoming aware of antisemitism in high school and how it bothered him when derogatory terms toward others were used. Terrell was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the coalition of Blacks and Jews uniting for equal rights. He referenced the tragic murder of activists Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney, who were investigating the burning of a Black church in Mississippi when they were killed by the Ku Klux Klan. He spoke about how Jewish leaders traveled down South to advocate for Black civil rights, and how Henry Moskowitz, Rabbi Emil Hirsch, Rabbi Stephen Wise, and Lillian Wald co-founded the NAACP in 1909….
Terrell’s vast experience fighting discrimination prepared him for his role today. In the 1990s, he was an appointed member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Advisory Council and co-chair of a statewide commission against hate crimes in California. On February 3, 2025, President Donald Trump appointed Terrell as chair of the Department of Justice Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.
Expressing his gratitude to President Trump, Terrell said, “This man has given me the authority, under executive order, to head this task force…For those who believe in freedom of religion, we have a unicorn in the White House…If Trump was not in the White House, we would be in trouble.” He called Trump “the best friend in the White House the Jewish community ever had; the best friend in the White House Israel’s ever had.”
Terrell referred to the extreme rise in antisemitism today as “historic,” and called it “a wake-up call to America and Western civilization.” He said his phone “never stops ringing about antisemitism.”
He described how he and Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are on the same page. “You’ve got two people who are not Jewish who understand what the war is all about on fighting antisemitism,” Terrell said.
He expressed how his biggest concern is that the fight against antisemitism doesn’t stop when Trump’s presidency is over. “It is critical that we set up guardrails to make sure that the Jewish community is protected… [so] any incoming president has to make sure they’re committed to these obligations to protect Jewish Americans,” Terrell said he left his position at Fox News as a contributor and legal analyst because of Trump’s commitment to fighting antisemitism. “He has given me a green light to do everything I can.”…
I wrote in the first paragraph above that Leo Terrell is a very good man. That is not sufficient. Morally, Leo Terrell has perfect pitch.
SKA says
Leo Terrell is a Mensch!
somehistory says
He said he didn’t see color. Now, some fume at that, claiming it’s racist.
There were/are some Jews who *unite* with Blacks due to the similar treatment received from racists. That is understandable.
It’s just sad that people see those kinds of differences in race and ethnicity as negative.
Humans are like a giant garden of different colors of flowers, different looks, different aromas. But there are evil people in the garden who view others as weeds to be pulled and discarded…solely due to those differences..
It’s great to read of someone who has a moral outlook.
Sadly, there is a lot of evil in the garden of humanity.
Wellington says
Leo Terrell in past years was on the Left side of the political spectrum but like others such as Robert Kennedy, Jr., Kristen Sinema and Tulsi Gabbard he has given up on the Left and more particularly with the Democratic Party, which party has devolved into an anti-American party and the sooner vast numbers realize this the better it will be for America, for the West in general (or what’s left of it) and for liberty, something the modern Democratic Party can no longer in any sane and informed statement be said to be defending. Go Leo.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I recall Leo Terrell from the 90s on CNN & other places. There, not only was he on the Left: he used to be a race hustler, which is why I found him absolutely repugnant. I was surprised when he suddenly turned into a Trump supporter, although it happened after 45 pardoned Alice Johnson at the beginning of his Criminal Justice Reforms. While I’m open about that, I have heard arguments against it from the likes of Tom Cotton, and back in the day, Tucker Carlson as well
I will say, though, that I find him, like Alan Dershowitz, intellectually consistent, which is a rare quality to find these days, particularly on the Left
Kepha says
Speaking as someone who is mostly “white”, I can understand something of the “race hustle from back in the 1960’s. When I was very small, and my family moved to Maryland, I was disappointed that the department store where my mother shopped had no water fountain low enough for a small kid, and doubly disappointed when one of those big, gleaming water fountains failed entertain me (since I wasn’t large enough to drink from it) by not producing the “colored” water it promised. Not long afterwardsm that particular Jim Crow ordinance was quietly dropped, and the store installed a low fountain for us small fry.
I also heard quite a bit of racial stereotyping of black people as I was growing up–including from people who’d swear up and down until they’re blue in the face that they are not racist. Now, I never admired people like Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver (in his early days), Angela Davis, and their ilk. But I can understand that black America does suffer a huge historical scar and painful historical memory.
Hat’s off to Leo Terrell for his political move. He seems to have a stong sense of justice, and has seen that it’s now the Jews who are the target of unreasonable hatred and violence.
gravenimage says
Morally, Leo Terrell Has Perfect Pitch
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Great to hear, Hugh–thank you!
Ralph says
Many years ago, I decided that I didn’t like Leo Terrell. A sour-faced race hustler was how I saw him. Over the years, Leo has changed and so has my opinion of him. Leo clearly is a good man and I now listen to him with great respect.