Photo Credit: The Salem News
Written by Ken McQueary
SALEM, MA- On Tuesday morning The Satanic Temple and the surrounding area was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat via email. The email was sent out to law enforcement agencies and local media, including The Salem News staff who received the email at 8:32 a.m. It stated “We placed a bomb in the Satanic Temple in Salem. In the name of Allah we will kill all you satanic degenerates.”
At around 9:45 a.m. the Temple headquarters and a block in both directions was shut down for investigation. After roughly 10 minutes, a 911 alert via text and phone was sent out “to inform you that we are investigating a bomb threat at the Satanic Temple on Bridge Street. We are evacuating the area and Bridge Street is closed at Beacon Street and Osgood Street. Please stay away from this area until further notice.”
At 11:45 a.m. another 911 alert was sent out to say there is no active threat. It read “The Satanic Temple and surrounding areas have been searched and cleared from the earlier mob threat. There is no longer any danger in the area, and Bridge Street is open to all traffic.” According to Police Captain Marc Berube, a Salem elementary school, Carlton Innovation School, was in the area, but no evacuation was needed because schools are on vacation this week.
Tufts University and its undergraduate admissions departments, as well as several Massachusetts-based news radio and TV stations, the State Police Association of Massachusetts, the police in Wilmington, and the police department in Salem, Oregon, all received the same email. The Salem police were alerted when Tufts University forwarded the email containing the threat to them. Berube said “We had two State Police bomb dogs out. They searched the perimeter and the interior of the building— no detection of any bombs. It appears to be a hoax at this time, and we’re going to have our detectives look into the email further.”
The Police Department and Mayor Rob “Bob” McCarthy issued a statement after the shutdown ended stating there has been “a disturbing trend in recent weeks of increased rhetoric of threats of violence. We will always take these threats seriously, and we thank our local and state safety professionals who continue to monitor and lead on these matters. We remain in contact with people who have been directly impacted by this situation, and we will continue to look into ways we can better adapt, mitigate, and communicate around safety for all of Salem’s stakeholders.” The disturbing trend has to do with Salem High School and many other schools around the state, receiving a series of hoax phone calls last week.
A member of the Satanic Temple, Malcolm Jarry, issued a statement after the incident saying “The Salem police were extremely professional in their handling of the situation and looked after the safety of everyone at the location, as well as neighbors. After an extensive search of the premises, the police determined the building was safe, and we resumed operations. We are very appreciative of Salem’s police for being so responsive and to our neighbors and local residents for being so supportive when we face these kinds of challenges.”
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