Nearly 100 Jewish Sites Across California Receive Bomb Threats; Law Enforcement Deem Threats “Hoax”

More than 90 Jewish sites across the state received emailed bomb threats on Jan. 2, although law enforcement determined shortly thereafter the threats were a “hoax.”

“The latest update is law enforcement believe the emails are a hoax,” Larry Mead, vice president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles’ Community Security Initiative (CSI), told the Journal Tuesday afternoon. “However, they are continuing their investigations to determine the origins of the emails.”

While the Journal was not immediately able to identify all the Los Angeles sites that were targeted with the emails, it was able to confirm Temple Israel of Hollywood (TIOH) was among the local synagogues that were evacuated on Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat.

In a message sent to the TIOH community the morning of Jan. 2, TIOH leadership said it had received an email claiming explosives had been hidden on the synagogue’s campus. In response, the synagogue “evacuated the building per our emergency protocols, and everyone is safe.”

“[We] evacuated the building per our emergency protocols, and everyone is safe …  LAPD conducted a search of our campus and declared us safe and cleared of any threat.”— Temple Israel of Hollywood

Several hours later, TIOH sent another email saying, “LAPD conducted a search of our campus and declared us safe and cleared of any threat.”

According to CSI, several law enforcement agencies, including Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Joint Regional Intelligence Center, were notified about the threats. In response, LAPD dispatched personnel to several synagogues in the area, including two synagogues on Pico boulevard and one on Sepulveda boulevard, Mead said.

A representative of Leo Baeck Temple, located on Sepulveda Boulevard, declined to say whether it had received a threat, although the individual confirmed there was “an email that went around to congregations.”

Mead, the CSI representative, described the threats as “abhorrent.”

CSI is an initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles that provides a single point of contact in the event of a security situation facing schools, synagogues, camps and other Jewish organizations.