FIU Student Allegedly Threatened Jewish Museum

MIAMI, FL — A Florida International University (FIU) student allegedly threatened the university's Jewish Museum on Thursday, triggering an evacuation of a parking garage on the main campus for several hours and the cancellation of a museum event in Miami Beach. The student was later identified by police as 21-year-old Oscar Aguayo, who was still being questioned by police hours after the all clear was given.

"Earlier today, the Miami-Dade Police Department ... received information that an FIU student had made a threat that would have impacted the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU on Miami Beach," university spokeswoman Maydel Santana said late Thursday night. "Law enforcement located the student. While the student was being interviewed, an FIU Police dog alerted to possible explosives in the student’s vehicle, located in the FIU Blue Garage on MMC."

The FIU main campus is also known as the Modesto A. Maidique Campus or MMC. With the evacuation, FIU police said that there was no immediate threat to the FIU community.

But Aguayo's white Honda Accord caused an emergency alert to be sent out to avoid the area around 4:3o p.m. The Miami-Dade Police Department Bomb Squad finally gave the all-clear around 7:30 p.m.

Detective Argemis Colome of the Miami-Dade Police Department said that police were still questioning Aguayo as of 10 p.m. He allegedly made the threats around 10:45 a.m.

"Simultaneously, Miami Beach Police Department ... responded to the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU and after a search deemed that location safe as well," Santana said. "As a precaution, an evening event at the museum was canceled. "

FIU's Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs was scheduled to host an "in-depth conversation" at FIU's Jewish Museum of Florida in Miami Beach, according to the museum's website. The event was to explore the legacy of the Balfour Declaration.

The declaration is a public statement that was issued by the British government during World War I announcing support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, according to the event announcement.

Colome added that investigators from the FBI, ATF and the Miami-Dade Police Department Homeland Security Bureau tied Aguayo to the phone threats, which stated that he wanted to raise havoc at the Jewish Museum.

"Investigators later learned that Mr. Aguayo was attending class on today's date," Colome said. "They met Mr. Aguayo at his classroom and detained him for questioning."

Photo by Paul Scicchitano