FBI, DOJ investigating 3rd bomb threat at Levite Jewish Community Center, others nationwide

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - The FBI and the Justice Department's Civil Rights division will investigate nationwide threats against Jewish Community Centers for possible civil rights violations, according to the FBI's Birmingham division.

Monday morning,  Birmingham police investigated another bomb threat at the Levite Jewish Community Center on Montclair Road.

"The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence, and will ensure this matter is investigated in a fair, thorough, and impartial man," Paul E. Draymond of the FBI said in an email.

Police responded to the scene around 8:30 a.m. Lt. Sean Edwards says the threat was a recording and not called in by someone.

Police say nothing was found.

The first bomb threat happened Jan. 18 and then again on Feb. 20.

Rep. Terri Sewell released this statement about the nationwide threats as well as the one under investigation in Birmingham:

I am deeply disturbed by the threats against Jewish community centers in Birmingham and nationwide. These hate crimes will not be tolerated. Many of my constituents still remember the 1963 bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four young black girls. We cannot and will not let that kind of hate rock our community ever again. The families in my district reject anti-Semitism or discrimination against any religion or race, and we will call out and confront discrimination wherever it is present

Sewell, along with 157 members of Congress, issued a letter on Feb. 23 to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to look into threats taking place nationwide.

Governor Robert Bentley said he was "deeply troubled" by the threats in a Monday statement, saying that he ordered the State Bureau of Investigation to coordinate with federal and local officials in Birmingham.

As the Governor of every person of Alabama, I will not tolerate targeted threats against any segment of the community. I have been briefed on the bomb threats at the Levite Jewish Community Center in Birmingham, and I have ordered the State Bureau of Investigation, a division with in the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to coordinate with local and federal law enforcement officials to provide investigative resources. I am deeply troubled for our families and communities that have been threatened and feel frightened. I can assure the people of our state that Alabama will not tolerate any threat, we will bring those responsible to justice and we will provide any resource necessary to protect every one of our citizens.

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