Feb 2, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Howard University president says bomb threats were "motivated by hate"

Erin Doherty

Wayne Frederick, president of Howard University, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview on Marriott International Inc. in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov 9, 2021. — Wayne Frederick speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York on Nov 9, 2021. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Howard University president Wayne Frederick said Tuesday that bomb threats directed at several historically Black colleges and universities, including Howard, in recent days "are motivated by hate."

Driving the news: "We don't have an idea right now of who's behind this, we do know that it's motivated by hate, which is exactly the antithesis of why these institutions are here and certainly why Howard University was founded," Frederick said Tuesday in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Frederick also said that he and other presidents of historically Black colleges and universities were on a call Tuesday with the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the threats.
Several Howard University administrators have also been on calls with the FBI and local authorities, Frederick said.

Catch up quick: More than a dozen HBCUs on Tuesday closed campus or cancelled classes due to bomb threats on the first day of Black History Month.

It was the second day this week and third in the past month that several HBCUs had received such threats.

What he's saying: "I think we have a lot to learn from what happened before us," Frederick said, adding that "the reason that [students] came here is exactly to combat what is motivating this person to do this."

"Let us move forward together to counteract the malevolent forces in our society and inspire goodness to triumph," Frederick said in a video message to the Howard University community on Tuesday.

Go deeper: Over a dozen HBCUs get bomb threats on first day of Black History Month

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Howard University president says bomb threats were "motivated by hate"

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