FBI identifies minor responsible for majority of HBCU bomb threats

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The FBI has announced that a minor will be charged with making dozens of bomb threats earlier this year against more than 50 HBCUs across the country.

Minor responsible for HBCU bomb threats

“We have worked with state prosecutors to ensure that that individual is charged under various other state offenses,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House committee on Homeland Security Tuesday, noting that the accused minor won’t be charged federally because of limitations for juveniles.

The juvenile is believed to be responsible for a majority of the threats, the agency said in a statement.

The FBI is also continuing to investigate additional unrelated threats that appeared originate overseas, the agency said in a statement.

Threats against HBCUs in January and February spiked when at least 57 colleges received bomb threats via phone calls, e-mails, instant messages and anonymous online posts, according to the FBI.

More than a dozen schools had to lock down or postpone classes on the first day of Black History Month in February after at least 18 HBCUs received bomb threats.

Following the series of threats, the Biden administration launched an FBI investigation saying the threats would be investigated “as racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism and hate crimes.”

Mental health resources

In March, the Department of Education announced that several HBCUs that received bomb threats would be eligible for federal grants aimed at improving mental health resources and campus security.

HBCUs are eligible to apply for funding under the Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) program, which provides grants ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 per school, according to the Department of Education.