The Anti-Defamation League’s Southeast office in Buckhead was among four ADL locations that say they received bomb threats March 7, part of a nationwide wave of anti-Semitic threats.
Telephoned bomb threats also targeted ADL offices in Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., according to a statement issued on social media by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. Several Jewish community centers were targeted as well, Greenblatt wrote.
“This is not ‘normal.’ We will not be deterred, or intimidated,” Greenblatt wrote in the statement.
At the ADL’s Southeast regional office on Piedmont, staff evacuated the office and Atlanta Police found no bomb after sweeping the building, according to APD.
“The threat was on a loop repeating, ‘There is bomb’ several times,” according to Officer Lisa Bender of APD’s public affairs division.
The federal Department of Homeland Security also responded and “obtained information for a follow-up investigation,” according to Bender.
Atlanta ADL staff referred questions to the New York-based national office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jewish community centers and organizations around the county have received similar threats over the past few months. Among them is the Marcus Jewish Community Center in Dunwoody, which reported a bomb threat on Jan. 9.
The ADL says it has documented 121 threats nationwide since January, not including the March 7 threats.
“It is time for action, and we call on the [Trump] Administration and Congress to take concrete steps to catch those threatening the Jewish community,” wrote Greenblatt in his statement.
The ADL is a nonprofit advocacy organization that opposes anti-Semitism and any other form of bigotry.
–Dyana Bagby contributed
Is there a group a person could join to be called to help in case of an emergency? I want my Jewish neighbors to know they are not alone.