The JEWISHcolorado office received an anti-Semitic and threatening phone call, Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 3 p.m. Within 20 minutes of that call, the Jco staff developed a response plan and evacuation operations were underway, according to Brandon Rattiner, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), external relations division of Jco.
“We started working with the broader Jewish community to give them awareness of it, and also with local law enforcement to make sure that the threat was handled appropriately,” attiner told the Intermountain Jewish News.
Jco closed its building and Jco staff worked remotely on Wednesday, Dec. 24, until 2:30 p.m., when the agency closed for the ensuing federal holiday.
The Staenberg-Loup Jewish Community Center, located a few yards south of Jco on South Dahlia St., responded independently to the threat received by Jco by evacuating and closing its campus within an hour of Jco receiving the phone call. The JCC remained closed on Dec. 24 and 25. In an email to its members, the JCC said it would close on Dec. 24 out of an abundance of caution and planned to reopen Friday, Dec. 26.
Separately, Kol Ami in Salt Lake City reported that local police were stepping up patrols around the synagogue and homes of its leadership after an Ogden man was arrested after making threats towards synagogues and having explosives in his home. According to local law enforcement and the FBI the individual had not made a direct threat against any specific synagogue.
The threat against Jco, according to Rattiner, “is a real threat and it needs to be taken seriously. There are people who want to sow this kind of chaos, and to tie up security resources, and tie up police, whether or not these threats led to actionable things on the ground.
“There’s just a group of people who do swatting exercises often, and we have to take it seriously.”
Rattiner said that Jco “handled everything calmly and professionally and in line with best practices.” He attributes that to the fact that during 2025 alone, Security Communities Network (SCN) had provided 11 trainings to Jco leadership and staff, which included situational awareness, deescalation, countering threats, event security and other matters.
“This training works,” said Rattiner. “It’s important that people are prepared and trained to handle these kinds of situations because, whether it’s a disruption at an event, a threatening call to a building or encountering protestors when’s you’re just shopping at Cherry Creek Mall, there are better and worse ways to handle these things to make sure people stay calm and safe.
“SCN is a resource for the entire Jewish community, and we want folks to use it.”
For information on how to do so, contact Phil Niedringhaus, SCN regional director, at pniedringhaus@securecommunitynetwork.org. The SCN regional director for the Salt Lake City area is David McKean, dmackean@securecommunitynetwork.org.
© IJN 2025
