Bomb threats forced nine historically Black colleges and universities into lockdown on Tuesday afternoon. Students, faculty, and staff were evacuated or secured in their dorms as law enforcement was alerted.
USA Today reported that the following colleges received threats but have since been cleared: Norfolk State University, Texas Southern University, North Carolina Central University, Howard University, Prairie View A&M University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Florida Memorial University, Spelman College, and Xavier University of Louisiana.
And this notification from Texas Southern University (which was unclear in this communication about whether it received a direct threat) supports my theory that this was a coordinated, anti-Black, anti-HBCU incident. pic.twitter.com/3CF8U45f35
— Booker G. Washington (@TendentiousG) January 5, 2022
All affected schools immediately sent out an alert to the community to secure the perimeter around campus. Police officers cleared most colleges, including Howard, Florida Memorial, and Norfolk State, hours later since no explosives were found.
There’s currently no evidence pointing to the bomb threats being connected or racially motivated.
College Safety Compromised?
Multiple Ivy League schools were also targeted by bomb threats last November. Brown, Cornell, Yale, and Columbia evacuated their campuses after anonymous phone calls that bombs had been planted in the vicinity.
The threats were determined to be hoaxes, and police allowed students and faculty to return to their campuses soon afterward.
Meanwhile in Florida, an aeronautical student was arrested in December for plotting and threatening to shoot up his university before winter break. While the suspect claimed that he had been joking about the threats, local officers raided his apartment and found a backpack containing a folding rifle and a large stock of ammunition.