FBI Investigating Threats to Jewish Centers

Federal authorities say they’re investigating threats to Jewish centers nationwide.

A brief FBI statement Wednesday says it and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are investigating “possible civil rights violations in connection with threats.” The statement from the agency’s Washington headquarters doesn’t characterize the threats.

But the Anti-Defamation League the same day issued a statement citing “a series of bomb threats to Jewish community centers in at least 17 states.”

The ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt adds that with regard to actual explosives, “so far these threats do not appear to be credible.” But the statement says centers should still take them seriously.

The ADL says it’s received reports of threats in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Delaware, Connecticut, Alabama, California, Maine, Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, Texas and Kansas.