Milwaukee Area Jewish Community Center Targeted In Email Threat (Updated)

(Updated) WHITEFISH BAY, WI — The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center in Whitefish Bay, targeted Tuesday with an overnight email threat, reopened at 9 a.m., the organization said in a tweet. The organization closed its facilities around 7 a.m. after receiving the threat.

The threat was the third since January. The center was evacuated once in February and once in January. Across the country, more than 100 threats against Jewish organizations have been received this year.

"This is a huge drain of resources, but we're going to take every one seriously," Sgt. Patrick Whitaker with the Whitefish Bay Police Department told reporters at a press conference about a half hour after the center's 9 a.m. reopening.

Another threat was called in to the JCC of Rochester, New York. Staff were temporarily evacuated from the center before it could reopen. According to local media reports, another JCC in upstate New York, located in DeWitt, has been placed on lockdown. Police in Davie, Florida say they are on scene of a bomb threat at the local JCC.

The Anti-Defamation League said in a statement Tuesday that the bomb threats are "not normal" and called on the Trump administration and Congress to step up the efforts to catch those responsible.

Federal authorities have arrested a disgraced former journalist who they say is responsible for at least eight threats against Jewish organizations, which he made to harass and intimidate an ex-girlfriend.

Juan Thompson, a former reporter for the Intercept who was fired for fabricating sources there, was arrested in St. Louis on Friday morning and charged with cyberstalking and communicating threats, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

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