Chabot Elementary School received a bomb threat Tuesday morning, prompting the school to cancel classes and send students home, Oaklandside reported.
Oakland police were told of the threat, which had “racial undertones” via email from the school’s principal just before 7:30 a.m, a spokeperson said. The school is located at 6686 Chabot Road on the eastern flank of Rockridge.
Officers responded and evacuated about 30 students in addition to the staff and employees from the school, Oakland Police Capt. Lisa Ausmus said. The school day had not yet started.
The threat comes amid a social media frenzy and email harassment prompted by a right-wing social media commentator criticizing the school for trying to welcome families of color by organizing a playdate for the school’s Black, brown, Asian and Pacific Islander families, Oaklandside reported.
Chabot Elementary parent Tamisa Jackson told Oaklandside that she and other members of the school’s equity and inclusion group started receiving hateful emails on Sunday after a flyer about the play date was posted on Reddit.
Oaklandside reporters who were provided screenshots of an email sent to the group described it as including racist remarks and threatening to do harm to the group if it continued its activities.
The Oakland Police Department is investigating the bomb threat at Chabot, as well as other threats at private residences in the city. Additionally, police are actively investigating a hate speech incident and, in partnership with the FBI, are looking into any possible connection between this incident and the bomb threat.
(Read the full Oaklandside story HERE)