In 2012, a series of bomb threats was made towards the University of Pittsburgh. The first threat was written on a bathroom stall in the Chevron Science Center and was observed on February 13, 2012. It was not until approximately a month later, however, that threats occurred with increasing frequency. [1] The number of bomb threats totaled approximately 160 as of April 21, 2012, after which police reported no additional related threats.
Several threats were written on bathroom stalls in the Cathedral of Learning and Chevron Science Center. [2] Several more are known to have originated via email. [3] Some of the emails are believed to have been routed through intermediate servers using Mixmaster, a type of anonymous remailer that makes the origin of an email almost impossible to determine. [3] The threats targeted dozens of buildings at the University of Pittsburgh in addition to buildings at a number of nearby educational institutions: Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, Point Park University, California University of Pennsylvania, and Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). [4]
The FBI and Secret Service had identified at least one person of interest related to the case, [5] and local police collaborated with the Department of Justice and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. [6] On April 11, police arrested Mark Lee Krangle, a Pitt alumnus and former teaching fellow who wrote a harassing email to Pitt professors that advised international terrorism was behind the bomb threats, as he disembarked at Pittsburgh International Airport. [7] On the same day, the Pittsburgh US Attorney's Office claimed that "significant progress" had been made in the investigation of the bomb threats. [4] [8]
The University of Pittsburgh offered a reward of up to $10,000 on March 30 "for information leading to an arrest and conviction" of those responsible for the threats, which was raised to up to $50,000 on April 2 [9] before being withdrawn on April 21. [10] The University has also removed some bathroom stall doors in the Cathedral of Learning and ramped up security in the building. [2] Chancellor Mark Nordenberg wrote a letter to the University on April 3 in which he said that "...those responsible for these threats not only lack basic respect for the thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted by them but must possess a heartless streak," [11] and another on April 6, in which he lamented that "It is true ... that this could have happened anywhere. But sadly, it is happening here at Pitt – on a campus that is widely recognized as safe by all comparative measures and that is known for its sense of community." [12] On April 8, the University announced that it would be tightening security measures, including provisions such as requiring all people entering University buildings to present University IDs, only allowing students to enter residence halls, and disallowing backpacks and packages from being brought into buildings. [13] [14] This policy was soon changed to allow backpacks into buildings, and on April 9 the Cathedral of Learning had more than one open entrance (All guarded by security). [15]
On April 10, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette received a note from "The Threateners" demanding that the University of Pittsburgh take down the $50,000 reward they offered for information leading to the culprit or culprits. They offered a 24-hour window without bomb threats, which they upheld. Pitt and the FBI decided to not negotiate with terrorists, ignoring the demand, and the Post-Gazette did not publish a story about the offer.
Then, on April 20, 2012, The Pitt News, the daily student newspaper, received a similar email from "The Threateners" offering a 24-hour window without threats, which they stuck to, and then demanded that Pitt takes down the $50,000 reward. Some of the email stated,
this all began when you, Nordenberg, put out a $10,000 — then $50,000 — ‘reward’ (bounty) for some young kid who’d pranked the University. Remember? That REALLY angered us! Hey, man! This is America! We don't treat our kids like that! Simply withdraw the 'reward,' and we will end our actions permanently.
They also claimed to have no ties to any persons of interest Pitt has identified.
The Pitt News notified the university that it was writing a story about the offer, which led the University of Pittsburgh to withdraw the $50,000 reward by the morning of April 21, 2012. Since the morning of April 21, there have been no more bomb threats at the University of Pittsburgh. The university's final count of bomb threats was 160, targeting 52 buildings that lead to 136 evacuations. [16]
On August 15, 2012, it was reported that Adam Busby of Dublin, Ireland was indicted in connection with the e-mailed threats. [17] As of November 6, 2013 no updates on Adam Busby's involvement have been published. In addition, there have been no indictments whatsoever for the two months of bomb threats at the University of Pittsburgh that occurred before the concluding weeks of threats for which Busby has been indicted.
The University of Pittsburgh is a private state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the university's central administration and around 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The 132-acre Pittsburgh campus includes various historic buildings that are part of the Schenley Farms Historic District, most notably its 42-story Gothic revival centerpiece, the Cathedral of Learning. Pitt is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". It is the second-largest non-government employer in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.
The Scottish National Liberation Army (SNLA), nicknamed the Tartan Terrorists, is a Scottish nationalist paramilitary group which aims to bring about Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. The group was founded in 1980 by Adam Busby, a former soldier from Paisley after the 1979 devolution referendum, which the organisation claims was fixed.
Adam Stuart Busby is a terrorist Scottish nationalist who claims to be the founder of the Scottish National Liberation Army. In 1983 after a hoax letter-bombing campaign against high-profile public figures he organised attacks from Dublin involving anthrax hoaxes, bomb threats, and genuine parcel bombs. In 1997 he was jailed in Ireland for two hoax phone threats against Scottish media organisations.
Oakland is the academic and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and one of the city's major cultural centers. Home to three universities, museums, hospitals, shopping venues, restaurants, and recreational activities, this section of the city also includes two city-designated historic districts: the mostly residential Schenley Farms Historic District and the predominantly institutional Oakland Civic Center Historic District, as well as the locally-designated Oakland Square Historic District.
The Cathedral of Learning is a 42-story skyscraper that serves as the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's (Pitt) main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Standing at 535 feet (163 m), the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cathedral is the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere and the second-tallest university building in the world, after the main building of Moscow State University. It is also the second-tallest gothic-styled building in the world, after the Woolworth Building in Manhattan. The Cathedral of Learning was commissioned in 1921 and ground was broken in 1926 under general contractor Stone & Webster. The first class was held in the building in 1931 and its exterior finished in October 1934, prior to its formal dedication in June 1937. It is a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Fort Pitt Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It connects the West End region on the southwest side to the South Shore neighborhood on the northeast side. The adjoining Fort Pitt Bridge on the northeast end connects to Downtown Pittsburgh. The tunnel carries traffic on Interstate 376 (I-376), U.S. Route 22, US 30, and US 19 Truck. The structure comprises two bores, each with two lanes of traffic. The inbound tunnel flows onto the top deck of the double-deck Fort Pitt Bridge, opposite traffic from the lower deck using the outbound tunnel. To accommodate the bridge, the northeast portals of the parallel tunnels are vertically staggered by 30 feet. The tunnel opened in September 1960, a year after the Fort Pitt Bridge.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Law is the law school of the University of Pittsburgh, a public research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900. Its primary home facility is the Barco Law Building. The school offers four degrees: Master of Studies in Law, Juris Doctor, Master of Laws for international students, and the Doctor of Juridical Science. The school offers several international legal programs, operates a variety of clinics, and publishes several law journals.
Mark A. Nordenberg is the chancellor emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh and chair of the university's Institute of Politics. A professor of law and university administrator, Nordenberg served as the seventeenth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh from 1996 to 2014. Nordenberg served as the Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law between 1985 and 1993 and other various administrative positions before becoming interim Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh in 1995, a position which became permanent the following year. He became known as Nordy to many Pitt students, who voted to name a recreation center and arcade in the William Pitt Union as Nordy's Place, and is also the namesake of the university's endowed Nordenberg Scholarships and the Nordenberg Hall dormitory on the university's campus.
The Pitt News is an independent, student-written and student-managed newspaper for the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The Pitt News has been active in some form since 1910 and is published online Monday through Friday, and in print on Wednesdays, during the regular academic year and Wednesdays during the summer.
The Pittsburgh Athletic Association at the University of Pittsburgh is a historic, Benno Janssen designed building located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Opened as the home of a private social and athletic club of the same name, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The University of Pittsburgh's School of Computing and Information is one of the 17 schools and colleges of University of Pittsburgh located on the university's main campus in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The school was formed in 2017 with a focus on academic programs that teach contextually situated computing in an interdisciplinary manner. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees as well as certificate programs and houses three departments: Computer Science, Informatics and Networked Systems, and Information Culture and Data Stewardship.
A panther is the animal that serves as the official mascot of the University of Pittsburgh and used as a nickname for both athletic teams as well as other organizations and affiliates of the university. The mascot is generally referred to as the Pittsburgh Panther or Pitt Panther, while the costumed panther mascot is also named "Roc". Up to 20 physical representations of panthers can be found in and around the university's campus and athletic facilities.
University Place Office Building was a 6-story building constructed in 1924 and had been a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Once located at 121 University Place, the building was originally the Schenley Office Physicians Building designed by architect Edward B. Lee and associate architect J. B. Blair for the Physicians Land Company. Long housing offices of physicians associated with the university's medical school and medical center, the building was acquired by the university in June 1983 for $1.25 million and then housed a variety of university offices, including the University Center for Social and Urban Research, until its demolition in 2011.
The Swanson School of Engineering is the engineering school of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846, the Swanson School of Engineering is the second or third oldest in the United States.
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University of Pittsburgh Stages or Pitt Stages, previously known as the or University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre or Pitt Rep, is the flagship production company for the University of Pittsburgh Department of Theatre Arts. Pitt Stages features students on stage with professional actors and teaching artists staging public performances of classic masterpieces, contemporary productions, and student-directed labs. The company's primary performance spaces include the University's Stephen Foster Memorial and Cathedral of Learning.
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Lindsey Marie Williams is an American politician. She is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 38th district.
