Maryland Representatives Call For Unity After Bomb Threats Target Jewish Communities

ROCKVILLE, MD — Maryland Federal and State Officials and Montgomery County officials held a press conference Friday to reaffirm the County's solidarity with the Jewish community in response to recent acts of hate and violence toward Jewish communities across the nation.

A crowd gathered at the Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington in Rockville at 10 a.m. Friday to hear representatives speak.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington was joined by U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen; Representatives John Sarbanes, John Delaney, and Jamie Raskin; and various other State and Montgomery County Government officials attended the press conference.

Ron Halber, the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, had a message for the people behind the recent threats to Jewish communities: “You will fail," he said, according to WTOP. "We will continue to celebrate our Jewish faith and access and enjoy our institutions without reservation or hesitation.”

Leggett told meeting attendees that all Montgomery County residents need to stick up for their Jewish neighbors and Jewish residents should not have to "fight this fight alone."

Leggett discussed his plan to ask the County Council for emergency money to increase security measures at synagogues and community centers throughout the county.

“We want to make sure that our Jewish community knows they are valued and respected,” Leggett said in a statement. “They are an integral part of our County’s celebrated, diverse makeup.”

Senator Cardin also commented on the recent bomb threats, saying: “We won’t tolerate this behavior; we’re going to find the people who’ve done it, and they’re going to be held accountable."

The meeting ended with men and women from all different religions joining the stage and offering support to one another.

Read the complete WTOP article here.

More than a dozen Jewish Community Centers (JCCs) and several Jewish day schools across the country were targeted by threats on Monday, the fifth time this year a series of such threats have been reported at Jewish institutions.

The threats were reported to 13 JCCs and eight Jewish day schools in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia, according to the JCC of Northern America.

Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville was one of the institutions that received a bomb threat Monday.

Montgomery County Police spokesman Rick Goodale said the report was made at 9:37 a.m. and officers swept the school but found nothing. He told Montgomery Community Media that investigators are trying to determine where the call, which may have been a pre-recorded message, originated.

Similarly, a Jewish school in Annapolis also received a bomb threat Monday. Annapolis Police said the threat, called in at 9:44 a.m. toward Aleph Bet Jewish Day School in the 1100 block of Spa Road, was unfounded.

“There has been an increase in threats to the Jewish community over the recent months,” said acting police chief Major Scott Baker in a statement. “We take these threats seriously and we will work to identify those responsible and toward a successful prosecution.”

Employees at the school told police they received a phone call indicating there was an explosive device placed inside the school. Officers responded and all the children and staff were successfully evacuated from the building.

The Annapolis Fire Department’s Bomb Squad responded; officers and K-9 units checked the building and no explosive device was found. The Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Office K-9 units assisted in the search.

This is the fifth wave of threats targeting Jewish centers.

The ADL issued a security advisory to Jewish institutions nationwide. By the organization's count, approximately 90 bomb threats have been called into Jewish institutions since the beginning of 2017.

Photo: Montgomery County council member Craig Rice