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Second wave of bomb threats hit Jewish Centers across the country

At least 25 institutions received threats around the same time.

CREDIT: AP/John Minchillo
CREDIT: AP/John Minchillo

For the second time in as many weeks, Jewish centers across the United States were hit with a wave of bomb threats on Wednesday, forcing evacuations at several locations.

According to Haaretz, Jewish Community Centers in at least 15 states all received bomb threats around the same time. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that at least 25 Jewish institutions have been affected so far in Florida, Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, California, Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland, Minnesota, Delaware and Missouri.

No one has been harmed so far, and authorities have yet to locate a single bomb. Yet many groups, such as the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville, Tennessee evacuated out of an abundance of caution.

Once the building was cleared, however, the center immediately reopened for business.

“People are shook, but we’re doing good work and we don’t want our work to be affected by this,” a representative of the center told ThinkProgress.

Haaretz has created a constantly-updated map of the accounts.

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It’s the second time this month that Jewish centers have been hit with a wave of bomb threats. On January 9, at least 16 centers spread across six states also received threatening phone calls about possible explosives, prompting evacuations and general concern among local Jewish communities. Jewish centers in the United Kingdom also reportedly received threats that same day, and two Jewish schools in Florida endured threats on January 5.

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The events are part of an unsettling uptick in hate incidents since Donald Trump was elected president, including a notable spike in anti-Semitism: since November 8 of last year, ThinkProgress has tracked 26 instances of anti-Jewish hatred.