Bomb threat reported at SLO synagogue. ‘Terror inflicted on members of the Jewish community’
A San Luis Obispo synagogue was among more than 400 Jewish facilities across the country to receive a bomb threat over the weekend, according to a social media post from the local NAACP chapter.
The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish nonprofit, told CNN the threats were sent via email. The organization believed one person or a small group of individuals were behind the threats, which were all deemed to be hoaxes, CNN reported.
In San Luis Obispo, Congregation Beth David was the target of one such bomb threat, according to an Instagram post from the San Luis Obispo County chapter of the NAACP on Tuesday night.
“Thankfully, none of these threats resulted in any loss of life,” the post read, “but the terror inflicted on members of the Jewish community is nevertheless quite real and harmful.”
In a statement, NAACP chapter president Tobin Johnson said the organization extends its sympathy toward the Beth David Congregation and “reaffirms its support for the common values of the Congregation and the NAACP.”
Johnson said the group stands in solidarity with the Jewish community in condemning this act of terror.
“It is not lost on us that the same groups that target the Jewish community with these hateful acts are the very groups that espouse and act on other forms of bigotry and racism of which people of color are frequently targeted.”
Congregation Beth David has not posted a statement on its social media regarding the threat.
Reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen across the United States since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas — a Palestinian militant group — that killed approximately 1,200 people, mostly Israeli citizens.
Since then, nearly 20,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, and more than 52,500 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The California Blackshirts, a white supremacy group that has frequented San Luis Obispo County, distributed escalated antisemitic flyers in Templeton and San Luis Obispo one week after the Oct. 7 attack.
This story was originally published December 19, 2023 at 8:33 PM.
