A California elementary school was evacuated Tuesday morning after receiving a bomb threat with “racial undertones,” according to police. The threat, which was emailed to the principal Chabot Elementary School in Oakland, came a day after notorious right-wing account Libs Of TikTok tweeted about the school holding a playdate for children of color.
The threat was received at 7.30 a.m., Captain Lisa Ausmus of the Oakland Police Department said, according to local outlet the Oaklandside. About 30 children were at school at the time, Cpt. Ausmus said, all of whom were evacuated. Other parents and children were turned away by police while the school was searched. By 12.40pm, the school had been cleared by police.
The bomb threat came only a day after a tweet by Libs Of TikTok, a controversial X (formerly known as Twitter) account run by far-right activist Chaya Raichik, about a playdate for “Black, Brown or API” students and family organized by the school’s equity and inclusion committee.
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“Come hang out while we get a chance to know each other and build our community as we kick off this school year,” the flyer read.
The tweet also included a statement apparently from a parent of a child at the school, upset about the event, which they deemed a “no whites allowed” playdate.
The post was picked up and reported by conservative media outlets such as Alex Jones’ InfoWars. This led to the organizers receiving a volley of threats, they said.
“Not only have we been continuously getting hate mails, the school has been receiving calls nonstop and Trump supporters and other unhinged racists have been spreading the school’s info by posting the address of our kids’ school for the whole internet to see,” Chabot’s equity and inclusion committee said in a statement to KRON4. “We have received a threat that has triggered an investigation by OPD which is now being considered a hate crime.”
"I am outraged that our children, educators and neighbors have been targeted by malicious threats,"
The FBI is now involved, according to the Oakland Police Department. The police also investigated the homes of several individuals who also received bomb threats, according to NBC Bay Area.
“I am outraged that our children, educators and neighbors have been targeted by malicious threats,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao wrote on X. “We are monitoring the situation closely.”
On Monday, a library in nearby Davis, California received a threat containing “hate speech” that led to a local school being evacuated, according to USA Today.
