Bomb threats were reported in Jewish centers in nine U.S. states on
Monday, local media reported, but authorities said it wasn’t immediately clear
whether the threats were linked.
The threats were reported against Jewish institutions in Florida,
Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Delaware, Georgia, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania. In London, U.K., bomb threats were also called in
Monday to three Jewish schools, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The U.S. calls were prerecorded in some cases and live in others, with
the caller using voice disguising technology, and likely came from a single
source, said Paul Goldenberg, the director of Secure Community Network, the
group affiliated with the Jewish Federations of North America that coordinates
security for the Jewish community.
The states were spread across the South and the Northeast. Only some of
the JCCs were evacuated.
All the alerts were false, Goldenberg said, and designed to produce
maximum disruption.
In South Carolina, the threat was directed against the Katie and Irwin
Kahn Jewish Community Center in Columbia, the state capital.
“It was a trying morning,” Barry Ables, an official with JCC
Columbia, told Haaretz. “This is new to our community. Someone chose a day
and pulled off a coordinated scare tactic. We evacuated the building very
quickly and notified the authorities, they came very quickly and with dogs.
“Most people are relieved that it was just a scare, But people are
also thinking about the changing climate. Perhaps a bit more boldness on the
part of people, to try and disrupt people’s lives, scare other people or
promote acts of hate.”
In Florida, bomb threats were phoned in at JCCs in Miami Beach, Alper
(Miami), North Orlando, Tampa and Boca Raton.
“Now, more than ever, it’s important that we join in solidarity as
a community to stand firm against hatred of all kinds. We must remain strong in
facing these shared experiences as united citizens,” Andy Brennan,
security director with the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, said in a
Facebook post.
In the Miami area, two institutions in Miami Beach and Kendall were
evacuated, according to the Miami Herald. After a police sweep, the centers
were reopened.
Christine Dundas, who works out at the Miami Beach JCC gym, said the
bomb threats made her think of the recent attack at the Fort Lauderdale airport
and the shooting of police officers in Orlando. “I’m kind of wondering
about all the violence going on. What’s prompting it?” she told Haaretz.
“The incident today drove home the memory that Jewish people are often
singled out for terrorism.”
In Jacksonville, in the northern part of Florida, the city’s Channel 4
news website reported that the Jewish Community Alliance in the city was given
an all-clear about an hour after a bomb threat was phoned in to that
institution.
In Maryland, a bomb threat was called into the Bender Jewish Community
Center in Rockville, a suburb of the District of Columbia. The building was
reportedly evacuated. A notice on the JCC’s website later on Monday stated:
“The Bender JCC is now open.”
The Wilmington News Journal website in Delaware reported that a bomb
threat was called into the Siegel Jewish Community Center north of Wilmington
as well on Monday. Jewish Federation of Delaware CEO Seth J. Katzen told the
website all four Jewish institutions on the site, which includes the Jewish
Federation, a Jewish school and Jewish Family Services of Delaware were
evacuated.
Reporting on a bomb threat in Tenafly, New Jersey, the website of the
NBC affiliate in New York, Channel 4, stated: “The JCC on Palisades in
Tenafly sent out a text alert saying it received a bomb threat shortly after
noon, and that it evacuated the entire building, including a preschool, senior
center and adult daycare facility for people with disabilities, as a
precaution.” An all clear was
issued a short time later.
In Tennessee, Nashville-area police were reported responding to a bomb
threat at the Gordon Jewish Community Center in West Nashville. Mark S.
Freedman, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle
Tennessee, told USA Today that “everyone is safe and secure.” Preschool
children at the JCC had been evacuated to another site, he added.
Bomb threats were received in JCCs in Atlanta and in Augusta, Georgia,
in Charlotte, North Carolina, and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokeswoman
Amanda Hils said her agency was aware of the threats and that its field offices
were prepared to assist state and local law enforcement officials, the
Associated Press reported.
The JCC Association of North America thanked law enforcement in a
statement. “We are hopeful that all of the JCCs in our vibrant network
across the country will resume regular operations by the end of the day,”
said the statement.
“Unfortunately, such threats are not new to the Jewish community,”
said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. “While each
of these threats must be taken seriously, and excellent preparation is key to a
good response, bomb threats are most often not credible and are usually used as
scare tactics in order to disrupt an institution’s operations, and to cause
fear and panic. At this juncture, none of these threats appear to be
credible.”
Searches of the schools did not turn up any explosives, and other
schools in the area were placed on lockdown until the searches were completed.
Copycat calls reportedly also were made to several non-Jewish schools.
There has been an increase in the United States in reports of threats
and vandalism on Jewish property in the wake of the presidential election.
President-elect Donald Trump, who was reluctant to denounce support during the
campaign from white supremacists and anti-Semites, has since repudiated racists
who say they feel emboldened by his victory, as well as ultranationalist
successes in Europe.
