Bomb threat called into Houston's JCC

Staff at the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC were instructed to leave as law enforcement searched the campus after a bomb threat, suspected of being non-credible, was called in Monday morning, Feb. 20.

The Evelyn Rubenstein JCC received a bogus bomb threat Monday morning, Feb. 20, resulting in a temporary evacuation of the campus in Southwest Houston that includes the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and the Bertha Alyce Early Childhood School.



Law enforcement ruled the threat to be false after a thorough search of the property. Staff returned to work at around 2:30 p.m. the same afternoon.



Joel Dinkin, the J’s executive vice president, described the threat as “non-credible” in an email communication sent out at around 11 a.m.



“We received a threat by phone at around 10:15 a.m.,” Dinkin told the JHV as law enforcement continued a sweep of the building with bomb-sniffing dogs. “We immediately implemented our emergency protocols, alerted authorities and went into lockdown procedure.”



After returning to work, Dinkin added: “Our staff did a great job, today, following through with protocols and procedure.”



Jewish community centers in as many as 10 different cities, including Birmingham, Ala.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Chicago, and St. Paul, Minn., received similar bomb threats the same morning as Houston, according to reports.



While local neighborhood residents took notice of the incident in Houston, the threat failed to raise fears or serious security concerns, they told the JHV.



“The people who are really intent on hurting you aren’t going to send you a save-the-date warning,” said neighborhood resident Ira Bleiweiss. “This is just an effort to create disruption.”



Leaders at the J said they are working with law enforcement to ensure the safety of its campus and community.



“We want to assure you that the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC of Houston and our staff are completely committed and trained to ensure the safety of our members and community,” the J wrote in a statement. “The security of our families, our community and the staff remains of the utmost importance to us.”



Last month, nearly 60 bogus bomb threats were called into 48 different JCCs in 26 states, plus Canada, according to reports. Each one proved to be false.



According to law enforcement, anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise across the U.S. As a religious group, Jews are twice as likely as other religious minority groups in the U.S. to be the targets of hate crimes, according to the latest FBI statistics.



