Jewish centers and schools in at least eight states and Washington, D.C. received confirmed bomb threats on Tuesday, forcing evacuations and closures at the facilities around the United States.
This latest wave of threats marks the sixth time this year that Jewish facilities have been targeted. Officials report that more than100 threats have been made in 2017 to Jewish community centers and schools.
On Tuesday, BuzzFeed News confirmed bomb threats at Jewish centers and schools in Wisconsin, Florida, New York, Oregon, Maryland, and Illinois.
The Anti-Defamation League confirmed that it received bomb threats Tuesday at offices in Atlanta, Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.
"This is not normal," Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, said in a statement. "It is time for action, and we call on the Administration and Congress to take concrete steps to catch those threatening the Jewish community.”
The JCC Association of America confirmed to BuzzFeed News “a developing situation in which several JCCs have received either emailed or phoned-in bomb threats overnight and this morning.”
The David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie, Florida, evacuated due to a bomb threat that was phoned-in Tuesday morning, Davie Police confirmed.
This is the third time this JCC has been evacuated so far this year, and the second time in two weeks, police said.
Bender JCC of Greater Washington, in Rockville, Maryland — another Jewish community center that stayed closed on Tuesday morning and also received prior threats — confirmed in an email to members that is received an email bomb threat late last night, calling it “a change in tactics from the previous phone threats.”
“The protocols and processes for handling these have been smooth,” Paul Goldenberg, national director for Secure Community Network, a homeland security initiative focused on the Jewish community, told BuzzFeed News. “Our staff, our volunteers, are administrators have been prepared. We are executing our emergency. We very much remain open for business.”
“These types of events are not going to stop us from carrying on. These people need to know that they're not shutting us down,” Goldenberg added.
According to SCN, there have been 122 bomb threats into facilities in at least 36 states since the start of the year.
Days after a fifth wave of threats that saw 30 Jewish community centers and schools in at least 18 states targeted in one day, a former disgraced journalist, Juan Thompson, was arrested and charged in connection with threats in eight states. Federal officials claim that Thompson made the threats as a hoax to get revenge on an ex-girlfriend.
Sources close to the investigation tell BuzzFeed News that no arrests have been made related to the more than one hundred outstanding incidents from the past few weeks.
An FBI spokesman told BuzzFeed News that the bureau’s investigation into the threats continues and they had nothing new to add.
President Donald Trump, who was initially slow to address the waves of threat, condemned them during his first major address as president, calling for the country to stand “united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms.”
All 100 US senators have signed a letter, Politico first reported, to the president calling for the administration to reach out to Jewish organizations “regarding victim assistance, grant opportunities or other federal assistance that may be available to enhance security measures and improve preparedness."
Steven Goldstein, the executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, also called out the president in a statement, saying, "lives are at stake - including the lives of Jewish children and Jewish grandchildren. Isn't it time to do something to protect them?"
The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2lTwUBu
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