It looks like the “credible” terror threats that led LA to shut down its entire school system came in a rather incredible form: anonymous email sent via internet meme sewer cock.li.
Federal officials are now saying the incident was a hoax, and it appears LA’s school chiefs shut up shop without consulting LAPD.
Furthermore, New York officials say they also received the threat and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton all-but ridiculed Los Angeles’ “significant overreaction” to an anonymous email.
He added that the school system in Los Angeles shut down schools without consulting with the Los Angeles Police Department. Bratton called the move a “significant overreaction.”
“We cannot allow ourselves to raise levels of fear,” he said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters that he was “absolutely convinced” there was no danger to schoolchildren in his city, saying there was “nothing credible about the threat.”
The editorial board of The Los Angeles Times disagrees, writing that “no matter” if it’s a hoax, the schools must still be shut down when a threat comes in.
Even if there are no explosives-laden backpacks, no mysterious packages and no actual plan to harm children, the online threats that led to the closure Tuesday of every Los Angeles Unified school and preschool demonstrate for Angelenos what it means to be terrorized.… Yet what options do we as a society have — especially when the possible victims are children? None, really.
Tell it to New York City.