JCC closes over third bomb threat
Center ‘awed’ by public support
WHITEFISH BAY - For the third time in six weeks, the Jewish Community Center here was forced to close because of a bomb threat.
But the head of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center said he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support amid the waves of threats targeting the JCC and others around the country.
“We are awed by the community support,” Mark Shapiro, the center’s president and CEO, said at a Tuesday news conference. “We remind the community that the strongest response to any unnecessary and undeserved interruption is to simply say yes. Say yes to the good things. Say yes to partnering to build a healthier Milwaukee. Say yes to the values that unite us and guide us.”
The JCC was evacuated at about 7 a.m. Tuesday following the threat.
“Overnight, along with multiple JCCs throughout the country, we received an email threat to our general mailbox, and instituted our emergency protocols,” Shapiro said. “Under the guidance of law enforcement, we delayed the start of our school day, calmly evacuated our building, and quickly confirmed the safety of our premises.”
The center reopened at 9 a.m.
The surge in anti-Semitism has frustrated Howie Siegal, whose 8-monthold daughter, Huette, is enrolled in day care at the JCC.
“Gosh, it’s 2017. You’d think we’d be in a better place by now,” Siegal said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s frustrating and almost embarrassing that this country can’t get past this issue.”
But Siegal added that anger and fear are not the appropriate responses to the threats.
“This is an issue that is much more comprehensive than what’s happening at Jewish community centers,” he said. “Tomorrow it could be another issue or another culture or another organization.”
Sgt. Patrick Whitaker of the Whitefish Bay Police Department told reporters that police continue to work with the FBI to investigate the threats.
“It’s clear that this is a nationwide problem,” Whitaker said. “There are others across the nation that have received multiple threats.”
Jewish centers and schools across the United States received bomb threats overnight or Tuesday morning, including locations in New York, Oregon, Maryland, Florida and Illinois. The Anti-Defamation League also reported receiving bomb threats at four of its offices.
The Whitefish Bay center was previously evacuated on Jan. 31 and again on Feb. 20 following phoned-in bomb threats. More than 100 such threats have been made to Jewish facilities since the start of the year.
“This is a huge drain of resources, but we’re going to take every one serious,” Whitaker said.
A bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers visited the JCC last week to condemn the threats.
On Monday night, the Village of Whitefish Bay Board passed a resolution expressing support for the center.
And on Tuesday, all 100 U.S. senators sent a letter urging President Donald Trump’s administration to take action.
“We are concerned that the number of incidents is accelerating and failure to address and deter these threats will place innocent people at risk and threaten the financial viability of JCCs, many of which are institutions in their communities,” they wrote.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Oshkosh, and state Sen. Alberta Darling issued separate statements Tuesday condemning the latest wave of incidents.
On Friday, authorities in Missouri arrested Juan Thompson, 31, and charged him in connection with a wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centers as part of a bizarre cyber-stalking scheme to retaliate against a former girlfriend. He is accused of making at least eight bomb threats against Jewish institutions in New York, including the Anti-Defamation League, and across the country.
Whitaker said he was not surprised the threats didn’t end with Thompson’s arrest.
“I think that one was pretty clear that was not the original person doing it,” he said. “We’ve been prepared for this.”