Arlington police probe death threats against pro-Palestinian banquet

Arlington County police are investigating a bomb threat that led a pro-Palestinian advocacy group to relocate its annual banquet.

The Arlington County Police Department confirmed in a document Friday that they are probing anonymous phone calls threatening the Council on American-Islamic Relations event scheduled for Saturday at the Marriott Crystal Gateway. 

The document noted that “Marriott reported receiving anonymous phone calls, some referencing threats to bomb” the banquet, to officers who responded to the scene Thursday morning.

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“The terror threats came after CAIR updated its original banquet programming to focus on the work needed to support basic Palestinian human rights,” the Muslim advocacy group said.

The threat comes amid the Israel-Hamas war, which started Oct. 7 when the Islamist group Hamas, designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization, carried out a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,400. Since then, Israel has been pounding targets inside the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and its troops are massing at the border for a threatened invasion of the Palestinian territory. Thousands of Palestinians have died.

CAIR announced Thursday night that it was moving the event to an undisclosed location with “heightened security” after a meeting with Marriott staff concluded it was “impossible to safely move forward.”

The anonymous phone calls threatened to “plant bombs in the hotel parking garage” and “kill specific employees in their homes” if the banquet proceeded, CAIR said.

The group said it reported the threats to the FBI, which investigates hate crimes. 

In an email Friday, the FBI said it could “neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.”

“However, as the Israel-HAMAS conflict continues, the FBI has seen an increase in reports of threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities and institutions,” the agency said. “We take all potential threats seriously and work to determine their credibility, share information with our partners, and take investigative action as appropriate.”