Bomb threats made at Jewish center campuses around nation

MIAMI _ Hundreds of children, teachers and parents were evacuated Monday from Jewish Community Centers in Miami-Dade and across the Eastern U.S. after a series of telephone bomb threats.

In each case, no explosives were found. But the threats rattled nerves for several hours at the JCC campuses, including locations in Miami Beach and Kendall.

According to news reports, similar threats were made at JCCs in Orlando, Jacksonville, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina and three in London, England.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that the Tampa JCC closed early Thursday after phoned in threats.

Last Wednesday, two Jewish centers in Central Florida were evacuated following separate bomb threats. One of the centers includes a community center and Holocaust museum.

The local threats, at the Dave and Mary Alper JCC in Kendall and the Miami Beach JCC, came via phone late Monday morning. Miami Dade Fire Rescue said it evacuated 450 kids and 70 people who worked at the Alper.

Miami-Dade police and Miami Beach police, respectively, swept each campus before giving the all-clear. That came around 12:15 p.m. in Miami Beach, where a woman phoned in the threat and said the JCC at 4221 Pine Tree Dr. needed to be cleared in an hour. Examining the much-larger Alper took until after 1 p.m.

Brenda Moxley, a retired FBI agent who was hired last year by the Greater Miami Jewish Federation to improve their critical security infrastructure, crisis management and education, said awareness and preparedness "is the best response to security concerns."

"Security is an important concern sadly because of the world we live in," she said. "It's something on everyone's mind."

Moxley said Jewish federations across the country created the director of community security position to act as a liaison with local and federal law enforcement and Homeland Security.

She said Monday's response to the threats were "definitely a collaborative and coordinated response."

"It is disheartening to begin 2017 with hate being called into Jewish Institutions," Hava L. Holzhauer, Florida regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement. "Make no mistake, these are terror acts intended to intimidate and disrupt the everyday lives of Jewish members of the community."