7 more Western JCCs, San Francisco ADL office evacuated in bomb threat wave

Seven additional Jewish community centers, all in Western states, and the San Francisco office of the Anti-Defamation League were evacuated after bomb threats, bringing Monday’s total of threats to 29.

The Secure Community Network, the security arm of the national Jewish community, reported JCC evacuations in Tucson and Phoenix in Arizona; Orange County, Palo Alto, San Diego and Long Beach in California, and Mercer Island in suburban Seattle, Washington state. The evacuations brought to 28 the number of JCCs and Jewish schools evacuated Monday in the fifth wave of threats since the beginning of the year.

Earlier evacuations in the day were reported in North Carolina, Michigan, Rhode Island, Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New York, New Jersey, Alabama, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. They included 13 JCCs and eight schools.

The JCC Association of North America urged federal officials to identify and capture the perpetrator or perpetrators of the hoaxes.

“Anti-Semitism of this nature should not and must not be allowed to endure in our communities,” David Posner, the director of strategic performance at the JCCA, said in a statement. “The Justice Department, Homeland Security, the FBI, and the White House, alongside Congress and local officials, must speak out – and speak out forcefully – against this scourge of anti-Semitism impacting communities across the country. Actions speak louder than words.”