At least five Jewish congregations, including one of Montgomery's, received emailed bomb threats Thursday morning, according to law enforcement officials.
Montgomery police responded to Temple Beth Or at about 11 a.m. The bomb squad cleared the building and did not find any harmful devices, Major Saba Coleman said in an email.
None of the Jewish congregations found evidence of bombs in their places of worship, said Phillip Ensler, the executive director Central Alabama Jewish Federation who is also a member of the Alabama House of Representatives.
Congregations in Montgomery, Dothan, Auburn, Mobile and Birmingham received threats.
Local law enforcement and the FBI are investigating the threats.
“It’s very, very unsettling to know that anybody hates Jewish people enough to go to the trouble of compiling a list of all of the places we might worship in the area and sending a threat," said Leah Nelson, who attends Beth Or.
“It’s been very, very safe and felt very, very safe to be Jewish in the United States for the last four decades. So what has happened over the last four or five years is really different and really upsetting for that reason," Nelson said.
Nelson also noted that threats are harmful to the community, even when they are not backed by violence.