Seven predominately Black schools in Washington D.C. received bomb threats and were evacuated Wednesday, drawing suspicion after several historically Black universities and colleges experienced the same last week.
According to Reuters, one of the schools, Dunbar High School, had a scare the day before while U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, was visiting for a Black History month event.
“U.S. Secret Service was made aware of a security threat at a school where the @SecondGentleman was meeting with students and faculty. Mr. Emhoff is safe and the school has been evacuated. We are grateful to Secret Service and D.C. Police for their work,” Emhoff’s spokesperson, Katie Peters, tweeted Tuesday.
The District of Columbia Police Department reported that at least eight schools, four public high schools and four charter schools, received the threats Wednesday, according to NBC News. All were cleared “with no hazardous material found.”
Washington police has not drawn a connection between race and the threats.
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According to the most recent data published on the D.C. School Report Card’s website, at least seven of the eight schools targeted have a predominantly Black student population.
Among them was the Dunbar High School, where Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, had to be taken to safety following a bomb threat on Tuesday. The second gentleman had been visiting the school for a Black History Month event.
Authorities said the incident at Dunbar, which is considered the first school for Black Americans in the U.S., did not appear to be targeting Emhoff. They also did not indicate that race was a factor.
The bomb threats come, however, after a string of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, were targeted with bomb threats this month, with the threats starting in the lead-up to Black History Month, with at least a dozen threats made on the first day of the month.
No explosives have been found in connection with the threats, but the FBI is investigating the matter.
The FBI is currently investigating bomb threats at more than 17 HBCUs.
“Americans have a right to be safe at work, in houses of worship and at school,” VP Kamala Harris said in a statement, according to Reuters. “We must stand up against any threat of violence in our communities.”