'Unfathomable': No Arrests Six Months After HBCU Bomb Threat

Six months later, no arrests have been made. The suspect's name has not been released, there has been no official statement as to what caused the threat, and it has not been clarified whether the incidents are related.

"I'm very frustrated," Carmen Walters, president of Tougaloo College in Mississippi, told a gathering of HBCU presidents at D.C.'s Charlie Palmer Steakhouse in August. “I am very upset that no one has been brought to justice, but there has been no conversation about the investigation.”

For school leaders, the incident that hit the campus was forgotten. seems to have been They say the threats that have caused lockdowns, evacuations and closed classrooms have imposed financial burdens on their institutions that they did not anticipate as they implemented enhanced security measures. They need more funding to improve safety and want those responsible brought to justice.

The FBI said no explosives were found, but HBCU leaders said the lack of public arrests created an uneasy atmosphere at the school. According to them, the acrimonious phone call took a toll on the mental health of students and their families who were threatened by the pandemic.

Claflin University, South Carolina Dwaun Warmack, president of the University, said the threat of the bomb had left him feeling less secure on campus, which "has always been a safe place for them." All the recorded calls were filled with "hate" and "disgust" towards their institution and the students they serve, he said.

"If only I could hear the recording," he said. "You're going to die today." , the agency is working with 34 FBI field offices and is "investigating a series of bomb threats targeting community colleges, colleges, and universities across the country."

"No explosive devices have been found anywhere at this time, but the FBI takes all threats seriously," he said.

The Biden administration has begun an application process for schools to receive grants to support student mental health and campus security. However, the Southern University Law Center in Louisiana, he is the only HBCU that has grants. The award was announced on Monday, almost seven months after the school was threatened.

"The Biden-Harris administration strongly condemns the threat to our nation's historically black colleges and universities," a Department of Education spokeswoman said in a statement.

The FBI has held several phone calls with college leaders, according to Rodriguez Murray, senior vice president of public policy and government relations for the Commonwealth College Foundation for Black Colleges. However, the FBI has not honored his March request for a confidential briefing on an update to the ongoing investigation. The group requested a briefing from the FBI again in July.

“In 2022, when we see all sorts of other crimes being solved systematically and seriously, the fact that this crime has not been solved means that it is not being taken seriously. Murray of the UNCF, representing Claflin College, Tougaloo College and other private HBCUs, said:

Criticism of the Biden administration's response. 36}

HBCU advocacy groups have called on Congress and the Department of Education since February to increase funding for more than 100 agencies to strengthen public safety.

Biden The administration took some action in March by allowing HBCUs to apply for emergency grants after the bomb threats, announced by HBCU alumni Vice Chancellor Kamala Harris, starting at $50,000 per school. It is in the $150,000 range and comes from the Project School Emergency Response to Violence Fund.

These are aimed at helping schools recover from violent or traumatic events. , which can be used to strengthen campus public safety and student mental health support.

"We will continue to work closely with federal partners to respond to threats of violence and improve campus HBCU leaders have access to all available federal resources to enhance the security of HBCUs and provide a safe and nurturing learning environment for students. spokesperson said.

HBCU leaders said they were grateful for the administration's support but found the process of obtaining help cumbersome. "Why should I apply for a grant when I know it's been done? I know I paid for all of this," Walters said. "You're telling me, 'OK, we need to beef up the building. We need to get a new sound system, a new alarm system, and we need to do all this.

' I think it's a complete joke," she said. "The grant procedure is, 'Okay, this is a bone. Stop crying. Stop complaining.'

Southern University Law Her Center awarded her a $133,200 grant." . The Department of Education further said she has five institutions applying for Project SERV grants and is working with the institutions to provide technical assistance to complete the grant application process.

HBCU leaders also disputed the evaluations they were asked to complete from the Department of Education's Federal Office of Student Services. The Department of Education said it would use the form to investigate actions taken by schools to keep campuses safe.

The university president said the evaluation was cumbersome and asked about the Clery Act and campus security systems.

"The most disappointing thing for me was the 3-5 page evaluation of him they asked for. It's like doing something that deserves a bomb threat," Womack said. I was. "It was our fault we got the bomb threats, so we didn't bury them."

Also, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorcas and more than 40 HBCU presidents discussed campus safety and security. unprecedented.

"While the administration has done well with most of her HBCU issues...it felt like it had failed to handle the situation." I went to support

"While we appreciate all of this, the agency and its leadership are frustrated and need more support, especially from law enforcement," Murray said.

After inquiring with the Biden administration about the federal response to intimidation, HBCU advocates and Claflin College provided additional comments to POLITICO from the Department of Education about their relationship with the administration prior to the article's publication date. School officials and advocates said:

HBCUs and the National Higher Education Equal Opportunity Association, which represents predominantly black educational institutions, issued a unilateral statement to POLITICO. "Our experience working with this administration is unlike that of our colleagues," he said. They went on to say:

Ongoing Intimidation

FBI Intelligence Executive His Assistant His Director Ryan T. Young told the House Oversight Committee in March that the agency's investigation " It led to one person and a small group." No arrests have been made, he told lawmakers, adding that there were "attribution issues" because "some threats come from encrypted platforms." The agency is only investigating bomb threats made after 31 January. The

agency continues to receive threats today, Murray said. Since the bomb threat, some campuses have been tampered with and others have suffered cyberattacks. An agency was threatened after it was considered to be a polling place in the upcoming election.

"I've heard the seriousness of the threat. I've heard students, faculty, staff, and administrators calling out by their names and in derogatory terms," ​​Murray said.

For these universities, an arrest resolution is important to deter others from making similar threats to terrorize them.

When asked if the federal government would have responded differently if the university had been predominantly white, Tugaloo's president immediately said yes, while Claflin's leadership hesitated.

"We know we're not being treated right," Womack said of Claflin.

"Listen, I went to a white school," replied Walters of Togaloo. "I can promise you, baby, it would have been different."