Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Tree of Life synagogue targeted with bomb threat

A spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh police called the crime “a hoax in line with other similar threats against synagogues around the country.”

Tree of Life Synagogue
The Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood in Pittsburgh on the fifth anniversary of the attack on Oct. 27, 2023. Photo by Justin Merriman/Getty Images.

The Pittsburgh synagogue that saw 11 Jewish worshippers shot and killed on Oct. 27, 2018, in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history, became the target of a bomb threat earlier this week that police have determined was a hoax.

The incident directed at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue on Tuesday is being investigated by local law enforcement and the FBI. The FBI added that it was not aware of any credible threats against the synagogue.

Pittsburgh police spokesperson Cara Cruz called the email “a hoax in line with other similar threats against synagogues around the country” and that officers “very quickly determined” it as such. Law enforcement did not describe any connection between this recent threat and the murders.

In May, Melanie Harris received a 32-month sentence for a campaign of harassment against members of the synagogue.

Robert Bowers, the lone gunman convicted last year for the mass shooting, sits on death row.

“We will investigate these allegations, ensure the safety of Jewish students and protect the right of every student in America to an education free from discrimination,” the U.S. assistant secretary of education for civil rights stated.
The cohort includes 392 new immigrants—246 men and 146 women.
“We are standing firm on our interests,” Israel’s prime minister said in relation to the Board of Peace’s 15-point Roadmap for Gaza.
“It isn’t assisted suicide,” bioethicist Arthur Caplan told JNS. “It is managing dying in a more humane way.”