THREAT INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Significant Dates for December

🚨Important dates for church security teams as Christmas approaches.

THREAT INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING
Significant Dates: December
Date: DEC 4, 2025

This briefing outlines historically significant dates and observances in December that have been exploited by attackers or hold symbolic value that may influence targeting behavior. There are no specific or credible threats tied to these dates at this time, but they offer context for elevated vigilance around the holiday season.

Churches see increased attendance in December, which means more people onsite during periods when extremists have acted in the past. Security teams should treat this month as a period requiring steady, attentive posture.

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MONTH-LONG OBSERVANCE

Black December
Anarchist groups have historically used December for symbolic “actions” against government or perceived authority. These actions have included property damage and coordinated vandalism.

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EARLY DECEMBER

1 December

• World AIDS Day (awareness observance).

• Historical event (1955): Arrest of Rosa Parks, which sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

2 December

• International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.

• Historical event (2015): San Bernardino attack by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, killing 14 and injuring 22. Attackers were radicalized online.

6 December

• Saint Nicholas Day (Christian observance).
  Source: Page 2.

7 December – National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

• Marks the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

• Historical event (2017): School shooting in Aztec, New Mexico, where the attacker posed as a student.

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MID-DECEMBER

8 December

• Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Christian observance).

• Bodhi Day (Buddhist).

• Historical event (1984): Shootout with neo-Nazi Robert Jay Matthews of The Order.

9 December

• Historical event (2007): Shooter attacked Youth With A Mission training center and New Life Church in Colorado, killing 4 and injuring 5.

• Historical event (1987): Start of the First Palestinian Intifada.

10 December

• Historical event (2019): Jersey City kosher market attack linked to Black Hebrew Israelite ideology.

• Historical event (1994): Unabomber IED attack in New Jersey.

11 December

• Historical event (2018): Strasbourg Christmas Market attack, 5 killed, 11 wounded.

• Historical event (2017): ISIS-inspired NYC subway IED attack.

• Historical event (1985): Unabomber homicide at a Sacramento computer store.

13 December

• Historical event (2003): Capture of Saddam Hussein.

14–22 December – Hanukkah

• Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple.

• Historical event (2012): Sandy Hook Elementary School attack, 26 killed.

18 December – International Migrants Day

• UN awareness observance.

19 December

• Historical event (2016): ISIS-claimed vehicle ramming attack at the Berlin Christmas Market, 12 killed.

20–21 December

• Historical event (2018): Coordinated vandalism of ATMs in Philadelphia by anarchist-aligned actors.

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LATE DECEMBER AND HOLIDAY PERIOD

22 December

• Historical event (2001): Richard Reid attempted to detonate a shoe bomb on an American Airlines flight.

24 December – Christmas Eve

• Christian observance.

• Historical event (1865): Founding of the Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee.

25 December – Christmas Day

• Christian observance.

• Historical event (2020): Nashville VBIED detonation by Anthony Warner targeting communications infrastructure.

26 December – 1 January – Kwanzaa

• Cultural observance celebrating African and African American heritage.

28 December

• Historical event (2019): Knife attack at a Hanukkah gathering in Monsey, NY.

31 December – New Year’s Eve

• Global observance.

• Historical event (2020): Violent anarchist vandalism of a federal courthouse in Philadelphia, arrests and recovery of Molotov cocktails.

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ASSESSMENT FOR CHURCH SECURITY TEAMS

December blends high-attendance Christian observances with dates extremists have used for symbolic violence. Attacks in past years have included shootings, IEDs, vehicle rammings, and stabbings. Markets, religious gatherings, and holiday events have repeatedly been selected because of crowds and symbolic value.

Churches should maintain a steady security posture throughout the month, especially during Christmas week, the Sunday preceding Christmas, Christmas Eve services, and New Year’s Eve events.

Brief your team on assessing threats. You will need it for the upcoming Christmas services. Click the picture above to access this FREE course

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHURCHES

1. Increase outdoor security presence during high-attendance services and events.

2. Brief teams on pre-attack indicators, emphasizing grooming gestures, blading, scanning, dominant-leg shifts, and concealment gestures (take the course, above, to help you understand threats).

3. Maintain strong parking lot observation, since several December attacks historically began outside before shifting indoors. (Take our course on dealing with cars in the parking lot).

   

4. Confirm radio and medical readiness for all major services.

5. Encourage early reporting of suspicious behavior by congregation members.

6. Review emergency action steps for IED, armed suspect, and vehicle-based threats.

7. Ensure someone monitors entrances at all times during major services.