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FBI investigating threats to Jewish centres

Last Updated Jan 18, 2017 at 5:20 pm MDT

CHICAGO – Federal authorities say they’re investigating threats to Jewish centres nationwide.

A brief FBI statement Wednesday says it and the Justice Department’s civil-rights division are investigating “possible civil rights violations in connection with threats.” The statement from the agency’s Washington headquarters doesn’t characterize the threats.

But the Anti-Defamation League the same day issued a statement citing “a series of bomb threats to Jewish community centres in at least 17 states.”

The ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt adds about actual explosives that “so far these threats do not appear to be credible.” But the statement says centres should still take them seriously.

The ADL says it’s received reports of threats in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Delaware, Connecticut, Alabama, California, Maine, Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, Texas and Kansas.