A Highland Park elementary school was evacuated Friday morning for the second day in a row after another bomb threat.
Highland Park Police determined neither threat on Thursday or Friday morning was credible after a search of the school. No one was injured and classes resumed at Red Oak Elementary School after the search both days.
Both threats came via email and had a national reach. In a statement Friday evening, police said they were notified Friday morning “by an out-of-state law enforcement agency that their agency received a report of an email indicating a bomb threat targeting ‘Red Oak School.’ ” Highland Park wasn’t specified.
Regarding Thursday’s bomb threat, police said a local news organization notified them of a threatening email. Police noted that three other “entities” also received a bomb threat pertaining to Red Oak School. On Thursday, police referred to those entities as “public buildings.”
“The City is working collaboratively with local and state agencies and the FBI because the bomb threats were received within the same timeframe as similar threats across the nation,” the police statement said.
These threats come after an X social media account that caters to a far-right and anti-LGBTQ+ audience targeted the school. A week ago, the account posted a picture of a classroom at Red Oak that included a large pride flag and the school’s handle. The message provocatively asked, “Why would an elementary school have a massive progress pride flag hanging above students’ heads all day?”
The post from Libs of TikTok on X, formerly known as Twitter, had nearly 600,000 page views on Friday. The account regularly mocks its targets. A similar message also was posted on the Libs of TikTok Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Highland Park police acknowledged the social media posts and said they looking into them.
“The city has received multiple reports of a viral social media post that includes a photograph of a Red Oak School classroom,” Spokeswoman Amanda Bennet wrote in Friday’s statement. “Law enforcement is investigating reported concerns.”
The bomb threats rattled a community still recovering from the July 4, 2022, mass shooting that killed seven people and wounded nearly 50.
USA Today reported last month that a school and a library targeted by Libs of TikTok on X also received bomb threats.
One situation involved a librarian who asked a group of speakers at an event to leave after they called female transgender athletes “biological males.” The bomb threat to that California library included “hate speech,” according to local police. The other situation in Oklahoma involved a librarian joking about her “woke agenda.”
Kate Grossman is WBEZ’s education editor. Follow her @WBEZeducation and @KateGrossman1
