Bomb threat called in to Mercer Island Jewish center
Feb 27, 2017, 9:05 PM | Updated: Feb 28, 2017, 2:36 pm
Mercer Island police. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
A number of anti-Semitic messages were waged throughout the Seattle region this week through vandalism and a bomb threat at a Jewish community center.
The Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island was evacuated Monday afternoon after a bomb threat was called into the building.
“It’s just frustrating in the fact it has disrupted a lot of people’s lives for the evening,” said Commander Leslie Burns with the Mercer Island Police Department. “It’s scared some families, some kids. It’s a pretty scary situation for them when they don’t understand why this is going on.”
Related: Neo-Nazi fliers posted around University of Washington
Police were notified about the bomb threat at 4:45 p.m. A bomb tech and bomb-sniffing dog were called to the scene. Backup from neighboring agencies was also called to assist, including the King County Sheriff’s Office. By 8:30 p.m., officials had yet to inspect the interior of the building and didn’t expect to finished anytime soon. Once the exterior of the building was searched, police moved through the interior with community center staff.
“We take this very seriously,” Burns said. “Most of us had gone home for the evening or were stuck in traffic, and we all came back. It’s all hands on deck. We treat it as a legitimate threat until proven otherwise.”
The community center had about 250 people inside at the time of the bomb threat. It serves all ages with after school and senior programs.
Threats, vandalism target Jewish sites
The bomb threat to a Mercer Island Jewish center is not an anomaly. The LA Times reports that 20 similar threats have been reported across the nation — Mercer Island is not yet included in that list.
This comes after a week of other incidents involving vandalism. Headstones with Jewish markers were knocked over in a Philadelphia cemetery, for example.
In Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, up to three buildings were tagged with anti-Semitic graffiti, My Ballard reports. Most of the tags included the Star of David and swear words.
Earlier in February, there was an uptick in neo-Nazi fliers posted around the University of Washington. UW police told the press that the fliers weren’t uncommon to find around the campus, however, their frequency had considerably risen since Inauguration Day.
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