Black History Month begins with two consecutive days of bomb threats to HBCUs

Bomb Threats Reported At Historically Black Colleges For Second Day

For the second day in a row, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were the target of bomb threats across the country, with this latest wave coming on the first day of Black History Month.

Campuses were shut down and classes moved to remote learning following the threats impacting more than a dozen schools as of Tuesday morning.

The schools impacted include Howard University in Washington, D.C., Fort Valley State University in Georgia, Jackson State University in Mississippi, Xavier University in New Orleans, Edward Waters University in Florida, Morgan State University in Baltimore, Coppin State University in Baltimore, the University of the District of Columbia, Kentucky State University, Alcorn State University in Mississippi, University of North Florida in Jacksonville, and Philander Smith College in Arkansas. Spelman College in Atlanta and Arkansas Baptist College were also affected, according to local reports.

David Wilson, president of Morgan State University, which was founded in 1867, sent a letter to students and faculty Tuesday encouraging them to stay strong and resilient in the face of adversity.

“Morgan is one of the most historical and consequential universities in the nation. Our history has been one where we have endured all kinds of challenges and disruptions, but we have always emerged stronger,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “I’m hopeful that these bomb threats to our National Treasure, and to many of our other sister HBCU institutions, will be aggressively investigated by the FBI.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called Monday’s threats “disturbing” and said the White House is in touch with federal law enforcement leadership as they investigate. The Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus said the investigation into Monday’s threats should be “a top priority for federal law enforcement.”

“Learning is one of the most noble and most human pursuits, and schools are sacred places that should always be free from terror,” the group said in a statement.

Former President Donald Trump was more directly involved with plans to use branches of the federal government to seize voting machines after his loss in the 2020 election, personally asking his Cabinet members and his lawyer if they could help him as his tenure in the White House was running out, The New York Times reported Monday. In one instance, Trump asked his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani if he could call the Department of Homeland Security to ask if it could take control of voting machines in several swing states, reported the newspaper, citing people familiar with Trump’s discussions. In another meeting in the Oval Office, Trump asked then-Attorney General William Barr whether the Justice Department could take control of the machines.

The press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) stopped short of condemning a neo-Nazi rally that took place in Orlando over the weekend, and instead lashed out at reporters and falsely suggested the rally was a Democratic “stunt” to make the governor look bad. Plenty of local and state officials came out against the rally on Saturday, in which a handful of members of the National Socialist Movement held up swastika-laden banners on the side of a busy corridor in Orlando and chanted anti-Semitic slogans.

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