(JLNJ Staff and combined sources) On Tuesday morning, Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston was evacuated after receiving a telephoned bomb threat. Its on-campus preschool was evacuated as well.

The Essex County Sheriff’s Department and Livingston Police Department, including its bomb squad and K-9 units, were immediately called to the scene to investigate. After completing a thorough search of the entire premises, law enforcement officials declared the building safe and everyone was allowed to return.

Following the threat, U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen issued the following statement:

“I am saddened by reports of yet another shameful anti-Semitic threat against another synagogue, this time at Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston. These are not just attacks against the Jewish religion, heritage, culture and values, but are crimes against our entire nation. America was built on the foundation of religious tolerance. Anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry must end.”

This threat comes just weeks after anti-Semitic graffiti was found on a bridge in the South Mountain Reservation, and is the latest in multiple waves of anti-Semitic threats made to Jewish institutions in Essex County and throughout the United States and Canada since the start of 2017. No explosives have been found at any of the scenes, and all reports to date have been deemed not credible.