Police probe bomb threats to synagogues across state
NORTHAMPTON — Authorities responded Sunday to apparent hoax bomb threats across the state, mostly to synagogues, including one to Beit Ahavah in Florence, a village in Northampton, which also received one last month.
“The State Police Commonwealth Fusion Center is monitoring multiple bomb threats made to Jewish synagogues and affiliated facilities in Massachusetts today,” State Police spokesperson David Procopio said in a statement Sunday afternoon. “Hundreds of similar threats have been received by Jewish institutions across the United States this weekend.”
By shortly after 3 p.m., the State Police bomb squad had responded to reported threats at a Jewish community center in Framingham, a Jewish cultural center in Tisbury, and the synagogue in Florence. Procopio added that the bomb squad also swept a Natick synagogue in advance of an event, though there was no threat.
No explosives or other hazards were found at any site, Procopio said. The threats appear to have been sent from the same email address, he said.
Rabbi Riqi Kosovske learned about the bomb threat to her Florence synagogue Sunday around 8 a.m., two hours before services were scheduled to begin for members of Florence Congregational Church, which shares space in the same building with the synagogue.
Instead of canceling the church service, Pastor Marisa Egerstrom and Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity executive director Cassandra Holden whose nonprofit manages the property, consulted with Kosovske and decided to host it outside, across the street near the village’s Sojourner Truth memorial statue.
More than a dozen congregants and community members joined together for prayers, communion, and carols before Holden, Kosovske, and Egerstrom headed back to the building, which also houses a preschool and is a venue for community events, to discuss next steps regarding the bomb threat and how to respond publicly.
“We’re in a unique situation to be in a shared space, and we had preexisting relationships,” Kosovske said.
At the same time, “I don’t want to lose sight of — this is an antisemitic act,” she said. “It’s so disruptive.”
FBI Boston spokesperson Kristen Setera said in a statement Sunday that authorities were aware of the incidents.
“The FBI takes hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk,” she said, urging the public to “remain vigilant.”
“While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention,” the statement said.
Northampton police confirmed they responded to the building Sunday for a report of a bomb threat. Officers along with the Fire Department and the State Police bomb squad swept the structure to “assure that it was safe.”
Beit Ahavah had a bomb threat Nov. 19, but nothing was found. It’s one of multiple temples around the state and country that have seen such threats since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in early October.
Holden said that “because incidents like this are meant to create upset, and the people who do them are really looking for that,” she wants to focus on how to respond positively as a community.