Bomb Threat Against Boston Globe: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Getty Boston Globe headquarters

A bomb threat against the Boston Globe was reported on Thursday — the same day that the newspaper led hundreds of newspapers around the country in an editorial campaign taking aim at President Trump. Boston Police said that the threat didn’t seem to be “super serious” — but they have stepped up security just in case.

The threat follows a tweet by President Trump in which Trump railed against both the Globe and the “failing New York Times.”

Here’s what you need to know:


1. Trump Tweeted That The Boston Globe Is ‘In Collusion’ With Other Newspapers on Free Speech and Added, ‘Prove It!’

Trump took to Twitter on Thursday morning, seemingly angered by the co-ordinated editorials that appeared about him in newspapers around the country. He tweeted, “The Boston Globe, which was sold to the the Failing New York Times for 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS (plus 800 million dollars in losses & investment), or 2.1 BILLION DOLLARS, was then sold by the Times for 1 DOLLAR. Now the Globe is in COLLUSION with other papers on free press. PROVE IT!”

It’s not exactly clear what Trump meant by “prove it.” Did he mean that the Boston Globe needs to prove that there is a lack of free press? Or did he mean that his twitter followers should prove that collusion is taking place?

Almost 12 thousand people retweeted the president’s tweet, and over 45 thousand “liked” it.


2. The FBI Is Conducting an Investigation into the Threat

Police in Boston said they don’t believe that the threat to bomb the Boston Globe is serious. But still, security was beefed up around the Globe’s office building. Uniformed officers were posted in the lobby and around the outside of the building. The FBI was also reportedly conducting an investigation.

The Globe issued a statement saying, “We are taking the advice of local and federal authorities who have recommended some additional security measures. The alarming turn of the president’s rhetoric — the specific labeling of the press as an ‘enemy of the American people’ and the opposition party — does cause us concern about media outlets and the stories we have heard around the country. Journalistic outlets have had threats throughout time but it’s the president’s rhetoric that gives us the most concern.”


3. The Globe Also Reported Receiving Threatening Phone Calls

According to an email obtained by Axios, the Globe received “several threats by phone” on Thursday morning. The email, from a building manager at the Globe, was sent to other tenants at the newspaper’s headquarters.

It read, in part, “Earlier today a tenant in the building, the Boston Globe, received several threats via phone call. Based on this threat the local and federal authorities have recommended some additional security measures for the property. For the remainder of the day you will see uniformed Boston Police officers in the lobby and around the property. There are very few specifics, but the threat was specific to later this afternoon.”


4. Over 300 Newspapers Around the Country Joined the Globe’s Editorial Campaign Against Trump’s Alleged Attacks on the Press

On August 10, the Boston Globe called on news sites around the country to join them in publishing editorials criticizing Trump’s statements about the media. The Globe challenged newspapers big and small to publish editorials about Trump on Thursday, August 16. The Globe said that Trump was carrying out a ‘‘dirty war against the free press” and urged editorial boards to speak out against it.

You can find a list of the participating newspapers — and the editorials they published — here.

The original editorial, which called on newspapers around the country to come together in a campaign for free press, is here.


5. The Globe Says That ‘Journalists Are Not the Enemy’

GettyBoston Globe Front Page on August 16, 2018

The Globe, of course, joined the more than 300 newspapers which answered its call to publish an editorial about Trump’s alleged attacks on the press. You can read their editorial here.

The editorial reads, “President Trump, we are not the nation’s enemy.”

Trump has often talked about “fake news” and has accused the press of being “the enemy of the people.” Part of today’s campaign was in response to those perceived atttacks by the president.