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The
District of Columbia Police Department said four public high
schools and three charter schools had received threats.
Washington police later declared Dunbar High School, where
Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, was rushed to safety after
Tuesday's bomb threat, and the others "cleared with no hazardous
material found."
Authorities have not indicated a connection to race in the spate
of bomb threats, and police said Tuesday's incident did not
appear targeted at Emhoff, who was visiting Dunbar for a Black
History Month event.
But the incidents have further raised fears among Black
communities already rattled by a series of bomb threats made
last week to at least a dozen historically Black colleges and
universities, or HBCUs, nationwide.
"Americans have a right to be safe at work, in houses of worship
and at school," Harris said in a statement. "We must stand up
against any threat of violence in our communities."
No explosives were found at any of the HBCUs but the threats are
being probed by the FBI. Washington police say they are
investigating this week's threats to Dunbar, considered the
first high school for Black Americans in the United States, and
the other schools.
D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee said: "These are
troublesome incidents that we take very seriously," adding the
school system "will continue to offer support to our school
communities while the (police) investigations are ongoing."
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Grant
McCool)
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