Bomb threat targets schools, staff

Image by Lily Schroeder

By Sean Campbell & Naneh Grigor

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

In the early hours of Sept. 20, the Davis Police Department received an anonymous bomb threat via email which directly threatened multiple school campuses, including Davis High. Two Davis Joint Unified School District employees were also threatened, and their home addresses were included in the email.

The Davis Vanguard, a local political newspaper, was on the recipient list. The Vanguard’s editor, David Greenwald, says he was the first one to alert the police department to the story.

The Vanguard published the email which read, in part, “our youth are our future, what you teach isn’t just garbage but its (sic) poison and we’re not
going to stand idly by as you brainwash the next generation with your (sic) perverted fantasy and create further division in our country.”

The email seemed to refer to recent controversies over DJUSD policies concerning transgender students. A new Yolo County chapter of the national group Moms for Liberty led a protest outside DHS on Jan. 11, holding anti-transgender signs as students left school. A presentation by the group, held at the Davis library on Aug. 20, was shut down by a librarian because he said the group violated the library’s code of conduct. Student and parent groups have participated in counter-protests at school board meetings, supporting curriculum that includes information on transgender people.

In response to the threat, police departments in Dixon and Davis arrived at the two threatened staff members’ homes in the early morning to search their residences for bombs. The Davis Police Department also searched each at-risk school, leading to multiple campus shutdowns that morning. By 8 a.m. all DJUSD campuses had been cleared, allowing school to start on time.

Due to safety precautions, the police department increased security on the impacted campuses.

This is not the first time DJUSD staff has been attacked by hate groups. The two staff members targeted in the bomb threat recently had their names and emails posted on a political Instagram and X account, criticizing their beliefs and teachings on gender identity. The posts had millions of views.

Other staff members, including five teachers at DHS have also been targeted by the account. Art teacher Kyle Monhollen’s full name and room number were posted because he had a flag that supports the LGBTQ community in his classroom window.

“Do I change my visible support for my community and my students to put myself personally in a more safe place?” Monhollen said. “I have the privilege of (being in) a position where I can advocate for people who can’t and shouldn’t have to advocate for themselves, I’m going to use it.”

Due to the posts, Monhollen was worried last Wednesday when he heard about DJUSD staff being targeted in the bomb threats. “It’s not a good way to start your day,” he said.

The situation has forced Monhollen to create new habits to ensure his students’ safety. “I’ve started doing a sweep of my class building every morning when I get here for graffiti or damage or signs of weirdness, which I haven’t done in the past,” he said.

Last Wednesday was a day of unease for students, parents and teachers.

Schools first contacted parents and guardians at 6:16 a.m., alerting them to the bomb threat. However, the first contact with DHS students wasn’t made until 6:55 a.m. through Canvas. The email promised an update at 7:30 a.m., which didn’t happen. The 8:00 a.m. update, notifying students when they could return to school, only went out to parents/guardians.

Later that day, the school district issued a joint statement with the City of Davis and Yolo County condemning the threats to school sites and the Davis library.

“Threats of violence have no place anywhere and the ongoing intolerance and hate that is fueling these threats definitely has no place in our community,” said Lea Darrah, the president of the DJUSD board of education. “We will continue to stand firmly united behind our community values of belonging and inclusion.”

“I’m disheartened by yet another egregious threat that puts our educators, parents, students, and greater community in a state of unease and fear,” Yolo County Supervisor Lucas Frerichs said.