In summer time 2023, a rash of bomb threats hit suburban Chicago libraries. They weren’t alone in getting these threats, as libraries in a number of different states additionally reported such e mail and telephone calls. In Chicagoland, the threats dragged out for a number of weeks, with a number of libraries getting them greater than as soon as. A possible suspect was arrested, although no additional particulars concerning the particular person’s involvement has been shared since mid-October.
Now Minnesota public libraries have develop into topic to an identical wave of bomb threats. Beginning on Friday afternoon, a number of public libraries acquired bomb threats through telephone name. Among them have been Fergus Falls Public Library, which closed for the rest of the day trip of an abundance of warning, in addition to East Central Regional Library system, which acquired the decision late afternoon and closed a number of branches of the library on Saturday.
Northfield Public Library additionally received a menace on Friday and closed their library early.
Jessica Faust, advertising and marketing and communication supervisor for the East Central Regional Library system informed the Pine County News that they “received two separate phone calls, it appears the calls came from the same person who seemed to be reading from a script.”
Bomb threats continued into this week. On Tuesday, Heritage Library in Lakeville, half of the Dakota County Library System, acquired a menace. The library closed early in response.
Library employees throughout the state shared their experiences on X (previously Twitter). They have been shaken and disturbed by the threats, which come throughout a wave of backlash towards library employees nationwide. The rise in e-book bans, alongside rhetoric concerning the sorts of individuals who work in libraries, has inspired stochastic terrorism like these bomb threats to flourish.
Library employees and educators have been below assault for 3 years, and whereas it’s unlucky to notice that bomb threats aren’t new, their escalation over the past month calls for consideration and motion. These ought to nationwide headlines, however they’re hardly making a blip in their very own native media. This stochastic terrorism just isn’t solely shutting down public establishments, however surrounding the few public items in terror for employees and for customers–that is, of course, the purpose, and but, it ought to completely enrage each taxpayer who helps fund these establishments.
The threats throughout Minnesota are a stark reminder that none of that is restricted to “bad” or “red” states. Bad actors aren’t simply in states that folk prefer to malign; they’re even in “good” states the place there are new legal guidelines defending libraries from e-book bans or the place library employees have been getting ready for these potentialities. The perception that we must always solely care about “good” states performs proper into the very methods that the christian nationalist e-book censors create. They’ve accomplished sufficient gerrymandering and have disenfranchised voters so deeply that saying “this is what Florida/Texas/fill-in-the-blank” state voted for under provides gas to their fireplace. It additionally deeply harms these residing in these states who, by means of no alternative of their very own, have had their voting energy stolen from them.
It is probably going the listing of libraries above which acquired bomb threats usually are not the one ones. Several others possible haven’t reported and/or their native information, if they’ve any native retailers, haven’t written about it. It can also be possible we’ll see extra calls shutting down these public establishments.
So let’s return to the query right here that continues to go unanswered however, daily, appears an increasing number of possible: how lengthy till a library employee is killed for doing their job?
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