Asheville synagogue targeted with bomb threat; part of national 'hoax' pattern

Mitchell Black, Asheville Citizen Times
·3 min read
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ASHEVILLE – Asheville’s Jewish community has again become a target of antisemitic threats, that according to previous reporting have increased across the United States since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and the ensuing war.

Congregation Beth HaTephila, a reform synagogue in North Asheville, has received three threats since early October.

On Jan. 3, the congregation received an email from an unknown sender to its administrative email, according to a communication to congregants obtained by the Citizen Times.

The email indicated that explosives hidden in the building would detonate within a few hours, Asheville Police Department spokesperson Samantha Booth said in an email.

A vigil for Israel was held at Beth Israel Synagogue in Asheville, October 12, 2023.
A vigil for Israel was held at Beth Israel Synagogue in Asheville, October 12, 2023.

APD officers arrived at the scene at 9:56 a.m. Jan. 3, evacuated occupants and searched the building with bomb-sniffing dogs, Booth said. They didn’t find any explosives.

An almost identical incident occurred Dec. 18, Booth said. An email threatened a bomb would detonate. Officers cleared occupants and investigated but didn’t find anything, she said.

APD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are still looking into both cases, Booth said.

“It makes me more than sad. It makes me really worried,” Mayor Esther Manheimer, who is a member of Beth HaTephila, told the Citizen Times Jan. 8.

Manheimer said that she and her mother share a concern that the war will turn people against Jews more than they have in recent history.

“This backsliding in America of singling out groups and hating them for whatever reason is tragic and seems somewhat inevitable in our polarized environment.”

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These bomb threats are part of a nationwide pattern of falsely threatening bombs at Jewish institutions, according to Meredith Weisel, a regional director for the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy organization.

Meredith told the Citizen Times that one mid-December weekend, there were more than 400 bomb threats to Jewish institutions across the country. She said she is not aware of any credible threats to any institution but urged vigilance.

Weisel said that the emails contain similarities that led the ADL to believe that one person, or a small group of people, are responsible for these threats.

An APD cruiser idles outside Wall Street Garage in downtown Asheville on June 9, 2023.
An APD cruiser idles outside Wall Street Garage in downtown Asheville on June 9, 2023.

According to a statement from the FBI, the federal agency is aware of “hoax threats” made to synagogues or other institutions around the country. The statement said there is no information of a specific or credible threat and would not comment on the specific instances in Asheville. The spokesperson would not comment on the ADL’s theory on the email perpetrators.

Michael Patrick Toone, of Asheville, was arrested in October for sending antisemitic emails to an individual at Congregation Beth HaTephila. Toone received two judgments for cyberstalking, for which he served 90 days in the custody of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. He was scheduled to complete his sentence Jan. 8 and is no longer in the Sheriff’s custody, according to its inmate tracker.

Growth and Development Reporter Will Hofmann contributed to this report.

Mitchell Black covers Buncombe County and health care for the Citizen Times. Email him at mblack@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchABlack. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville synagogue bomb threats part of national 'hoax' pattern