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Officials: New York Synagogues, Museum Got Fake Bomb Threats

A cameraman stands in front of a synagogue that was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat, in New York City, US, May 4, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
A cameraman stands in front of a synagogue that was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat, in New York City, US, May 4, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
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Officials: New York Synagogues, Museum Got Fake Bomb Threats

A cameraman stands in front of a synagogue that was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat, in New York City, US, May 4, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
A cameraman stands in front of a synagogue that was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat, in New York City, US, May 4, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

At least three synagogues and a museum in New York received bomb threats on Saturday but none were deemed credible by the New York Police Department, a city official and police said.

Manhattan Borough President Mark D. Levine said on X the synagogue bomb threats were "a clear hate crime, and part of a growing trend of 'swatting' incidents targeting Jewish institutions."

"This is a clear effort to sow fear in the Jewish community. Cannot be accepted," he said, according to Reuters.

Anti-Semitic incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment in the US more than doubled last year to a record high as anti-Jewish sentiment spiked after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, the Anti-Defamation League said in a report last month.

A police spokesperson said a number of threats were received on Saturday, including an emailed bomb threat to the Brooklyn Museum and one to a synagogue in Brooklyn Heights, with no evidence of any explosive device detected.

Two synagogues in Manhattan also received bomb threats, including a West Side synagogue that prompted police to evacuate about 250 people, police said, with nothing found.

New York state Governor Kathy Hochul said on X state officials were "actively monitoring a number of bomb threats at synagogues in New York. Threats have been determined not to be credible."

Hochul added, "We will not tolerate individuals sowing fear & anti-semitism. Those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions."

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Pope Francis Calls Trump’s Plans of Mass Deportation of Immigrants a ‘Disgrace’ 

A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Francis leading the Angelus prayer, traditional Sunday's prayer, from the window of his office overlooking Saint Peter's Square, in Vatican City, 19 January 2025. (Vatican Media Handout/EPA)
A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Francis leading the Angelus prayer, traditional Sunday's prayer, from the window of his office overlooking Saint Peter's Square, in Vatican City, 19 January 2025. (Vatican Media Handout/EPA)
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Pope Francis Calls Trump’s Plans of Mass Deportation of Immigrants a ‘Disgrace’ 

A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Francis leading the Angelus prayer, traditional Sunday's prayer, from the window of his office overlooking Saint Peter's Square, in Vatican City, 19 January 2025. (Vatican Media Handout/EPA)
A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Francis leading the Angelus prayer, traditional Sunday's prayer, from the window of his office overlooking Saint Peter's Square, in Vatican City, 19 January 2025. (Vatican Media Handout/EPA)

Pope Francis said Donald Trump’s plans to impose mass deportations of immigrants would be a “disgrace,” as he weighed in on the incoming US president’s pledges nearly a decade after calling him “not Christian” for wanting to build a wall along the US-Mexican border.

History’s first Latin American pope was asked about the Trump administration pledges of deportations during an appearance Sunday night on a popular Italian talk show, Che Tempo Che Fa.

“If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill” for the problem, Francis said. “This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved.”

Trump, who is being sworn in on Monday, made mass deportations a signature issue of his campaign and has promised a raft of first-day orders to remake immigration policy.

During his first campaign for the presidency, in 2016, Francis was asked about Trump’s plans to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Speaking after he celebrated Mass along the border, Francis famously said anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants is “not Christian.”

Many US bishops have firmly opposed Trump’s deportation plan, with the incoming archbishop of Washington DC, Cardinal Robert McElroy, saying such policies were “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.” It was a reference to the Biblical call to “welcome the stranger.”

Another cardinal close to Francis, Chicago Cardinal Blasé Cupich, said the reports of mass deportations targeting the Chicago area “are not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply.”

In a statement delivered from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Sunday, Cupich said governments have the responsibility to protect borders and communities.

“But we also are committed to defending the rights of all people, and protecting their human dignity,” according to the text of his statement.

Francis, who grew up in Argentina in a family of Italian immigrants, has long prioritized the plight of migrants and called for governments to welcome, protect and integrate them, within their means. He has said the dignity and rights of migrants trump any national security concerns.