Feb. 3 (UPI) — The FBI said its Joint Terrorism Task Force was investigating a recent series of bomb threats targeting historically Black colleges and universities as a hate crime.
In a statement Wednesday, the FBI said its investigation into the rash of threats “is of the highest priority” involving more than 20 FBI field offices nationwide.
“These threats are being investigated as racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism and hate crimes,” it said.
More than a dozen historically Black colleges and universities were targeted with bomb threats on Monday and Tuesday, prompting lockdowns and class cancellations.
Though no arrests have been made, anonymous law enforcement officials have told The New York Times, The Washington Post and NBC News that six juveniles have been identified as people of interest.
“Although at this time no explosive devices have been found at any of the locations, the FBI takes all threats with the utmost seriousness, and we are committed to thoroughly and aggressively investigating these threats,” the FBI said.
Among the schools targeted was Washington, D.C.’s Howard University, which said it has received three bomb threats in under a month.
“The institutions dedicated to the education of people of color have always been a source of fear and a target of violence for those who wish to undermine the pursuit of justice and enshrine the unequal status quo in our society,” Wayne A.I. Frederick, president of Howard University, said in a statement.
The threats, he said, will not dictate what, why and how they teach their students.
“On the contrary, threats of this nature only reinforce the vital mission of our hallowed and historic university and the motivation that fuels us to study, to work, to teach and to learn,” he said.
