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An elementary school that recently made headlines for hosting an After School Satan Club was evacuated Tuesday due to a bomb threat.
BM Williams Elementary School in Chesapeake, Virginia, dismissed students shortly after noon after administrators initially placed the school on a “level one lockdown.”
The bomb threat comes just days after the school held its first After School Satan Club meeting, which was referenced in an email alerting officials to the threat.
‘You are evil, there is no other way to say it’, the email obtained by CURLY reads ‘You promote devil worship and anti-Islamic values’.
After School Satan Club is an organization that has chapters all over the country and is founded by the Satanic Temple. according to their websitethe club does not teach satanism.
An elementary school that recently made headlines for hosting an After School Satan Club was evacuated on Tuesday due to bomb threats.
The families now say they are upset by the attention the club is giving the school.
The club is meant to ‘educate children and encourage critical thinking’ supposedly
According to Lucien Greaves, spokesman for the Temple, the club is intended to “educate children and encourage critical thinking” without proselytizing.
Despite Temple officials claiming the organization does not teach Satanism, chapters created in schools across the country have faced massive backlash.
In November, DailyMail.com reported on the formation of a branch at an elementary school in Tehachapi, California.
In an interview at the time, one parent described the decision to allow the club as “disgusting”, while another called it “a mistake”.
The parents of BM Williams in Virginia seem to agree, as protests have been organized since the club’s first meeting on February 16.
Some families now say they are upset by the attention the club is giving the school.
“This is a nuisance, this is a lot, worrying about the safety of your children because of a club is unnecessary,” said a local mother.
‘They need to fix it,’ another parent who spoke on camera with 13News Now saying.
“They need to stop it and get them out of the school,” the mother continued.
A boy who spoke to the outlet said he initially thought the closure was a prank but freaked out after realizing it was real.
The school was placed on a ‘level one lockdown’ while officials investigated the bomb threat.
A boy who spoke to 13 News Now said he initially thought the lockdown was a joke but freaked out after realizing it was real.
The Satanic Temple website describes the club as a way to educate without proselytizing.
Parents and families are now asking the district to cancel the After School Satan Club.
Police searched the school for several hours Tuesday but found nothing.
Two explosive detection K9s were initially alerted to a backpack in a classroom, local media reported, but Virginia State Police used an X-ray to scan the bag.
The bag was determined to be empty and no other items were found.
School administrators said they plan to increase police presence in the coming days.
Police officials confirmed after students and staff were evacuated on Tuesday that the bomb threat appeared to be related to the controversial club.
“The reason for the threat is uncertain, but the language of the email appears to refer to an After School Satan Club that recently held a meeting at the school,” the police department said.
The matter is still being investigated by Chesapeake Fire Marshals, Chesapeake Police and the FBI.
No suspects have been arrested at this time.
Police officials confirmed after students and staff were evacuated on Tuesday that the bomb threat appeared to be related to the controversial club.
This is a still from the Satanic Temple’s own video explaining the purpose of the club.
This is the logo of The Satanic Temple, which is the founder of the After School Satan Club.
Around the same time that investigators were closing the Virginia school, the Satanic Temple headquarters in Salem, Oregon and the “general area” were evacuated.
According to The Salem News, an email was sent to staff at the outlet just after 8:30am, stating: ‘We planted a bomb at the Satanic Temple in Salem. In the name of Allah, we will kill all of you satanic degenerates.
The situation was resolved several hours after police determined the threat was a hoax, the Oregon outlet reported.
“The Satanic Temple and surrounding areas have been searched and cleared of the previous bomb threat,” a public alert read.