Phone threat disrupts Jewish day school
A Davie Jewish school was evacuated for two hours Tuesday after a phone threat against the school, the latest in a nationwide series of anonymous telephoned threats to Jewish schools and community centers this year.
#DaviePolice are on scene of a bomb threat at the #JCC. #PIO will address the media at SW 58 street and Pine Island Road. #BreakingNews
— Davie Police Dept. (@DaviePolice) March 7, 2017
The David Posnack Jewish Day School, 5810 Pine Island Road, was also evacuated after a bogus bomb threat on Feb. 27, part of a fifth wave of such threats across the country in two months. The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI have announced a civil-rights investigation into the threats.
Davie police, who characterized Tuesday’s call as a bomb threat, gave the all-clear around noon. The adjoining Jewish community center was put on lockdown but not evacuated.
The JCC Association of North America sent out a written statement confirming that several JCCs around the country were threatened with “either emailed or phoned-in bomb threats overnight and this morning.” No other JCC in South Florida was affected on Tuesday.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported community centers were threatened in Milwaukee, Maryland, Oregon, New York and Alabama, as well as in Toronto and London, Ontario, in Canada. Four Anti-Defamation League offices also received threats.
On Tuesday, U.S. senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio of Florida sent a letter to the Trump administration asking for “swift action” to deter the anonymous phone threats. It was co-signed by every U.S. senator and sent to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director James Comey.
Correction: A previous version of the story incorrectly reported that seven Anti Defamation League offices were threatened, per the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Police link man to swastikas
Timothy Merriam, a homeless man known to police, not only slashed the tires of at least 100 rental bikes on Miami Beach but etched swastikas onto five vehicles, police said.
While he was charged Feb. 26 with damaging the Citi Bikes, it took police another week to link Merriam to the five vehicles.
On Tuesday, police said they caught up with Merriam, 61, in jail at the Turner Guilford Knight correction center on the earlier charge. Merriam hasn’t been charged with the swastika crime, but police said he’s facing at least five counts of criminal mischief.
“He made statements that led detectives to conclude that he is the person responsible for the swastika etchings on the vehicles and for seven additional instances of slashing of tires on racks at Citi Bikes,” Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said.
CHARLES RABIN
This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 10:58 AM with the headline "Phone threat disrupts Jewish day school."