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The FBI said it has narrowed its list of suspects regarding bomb threats earlier this year targeting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) but has also expressed concern over possible copycat threats.
Ryan T. Young, FBI executive assistant director of intelligence, told Politico reporter Bianca Quilantan that the bureau believes it has "the majority" of the threats "slotted down to one person and a small group." The FBI has investigated 59 bomb threats since the beginning of this year, Quilantan added on Twitter.
A wave of bomb threats against HBCUs began at the end of January and continued into February, which is Black History Month. On January 31 and February 1, nearly 20 colleges and universities were targeted with threats, Newsweek previously reported. Though none of the threatened institutions found any explosives, each threat caused lockdowns that affected faculty and students' ability to move around the campus and to attend their classes.
Young also told Quilantan no arrests have been made so far, as there have been "challenges with attribution" because some of the threats came "from encrypted platforms." Last month, the FBI named several "tech-savvy" juveniles as persons of interest regarding the threats. Young confirmed that the bureau's current suspect is a juvenile, according to Quilantan.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing Thursday to discuss how the government can "support HBCUs in the face of threats to student safety and explore reforms to improve security on HBCU campuses and enhance efforts to prevent domestic terrorism."
In her opening statement, oversight committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney quoted former Chairman Elijah Cummings, a graduate of Howard University, one of the targeted HBCUs. She said he explained that HBCUs were established because of past racist admission policies that rejected Black students.
"While segregation has ended, structural racism still exists in society today," Maloney quoted Cummings as saying. "That is why HBCUs still matter."
After quoting Cummings, Maloney continued by saying, "HBCUs matter, and every HBCU student matters. That is why we must do everything possible to support them, especially when they are threatened or attacked."
In a statement, Young laid out the FBI's plan to support HBCUs, which involves outreach through its Office of Public Affairs to the schools and local law enforcement.
"Houses of worship and HBCUs, along with other public spaces where people gather, require robust protection efforts, which start with effective partnerships," the statement said. "The threats to public spaces in our country are among the diverse dangerous threats that the men and women of the FBI work tirelessly to counter every single day, sometimes risking their lives in the process."
Newsweek reported Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Education and Vice President Kamala Harris announced the HBCUs that have received threats are eligible for grant funding via Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV).
"Today's announcement will improve access to Project SERV grants for HBCUs as these institutions work to address students' mental health needs, shore up campus security and restore learning environments so that they can get back to doing what they do best—educating the next generation of great leaders," Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
Update 03/17/22 1:40 p.m. ET: This story was updated to add more information.
