Boston Children’s hospital received a bomb threat on Tuesday night after weeks of harassment from rightwing campaigns that have targeted the hospital for working with transgender youth.
According to the Massachusetts hospital, it received the anonymous bomb threat and contacted the police, who sent a bomb squad to the medical center shortly after 8pm ET.
“We are relieved no bomb was found and that employees and patients are safe,” the hospital said in a statement. “We remain vigilant in our efforts to battle the spread of false information about the hospital and our caregivers. We are committed to ensuring the hospital is a safe and secure place for all who work here and come here. We will provide additional information as we are able.”
The hospital received a threatening phone call around 8pm ET and contacted authorities immediately.
“We moved swiftly to protect our patients and employees, and we are working with law enforcement and outside experts as they closely investigate this situation,” the hospital added.
The police set up a perimeter surrounding the hospital and deployed a bomb squad, NBC Boston reported.
Shortly after 10pm ET, police removed barrier tape from the scene and said that no injuries were reported. Although no suspicious items were recovered, NBC quoted authorities saying on Wednesday morning: “It’s still an active investigation.”
In recent weeks, the hospital has been the target of anti-LGBTQ+, far-right harassment, including debunked claims about its treatment of transgender youth, and graphic language posted online by an extremist campaign using the handle Libs of TikTok, claiming that the hospital offers complex gender affirmation surgery to minors.
In a statement emailed to NBC earlier this month, Boston Children’s hospital said: “In response to commentary last week critical of our Gender Multispecialty Service (GeMS) Program, Boston Children’s Hospital has been the target of a large volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails including threats of violence toward our clinicians and staff … We are deeply concerned by these attacks on our clinicians and staff fueled by misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community.”
It continued: “Boston Children’s is proud to be home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States,” adding on its website that “all genital surgeries are only performed on patients age 18 and older”.