Police probing threats aimed at immigrant advocacy activists

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Montgomery County police and fire officials are investigating alleged bomb and death threats targeting leaders of a Maryland immigrant advocacy group who operate a day labor center that was set on fire last year by a still-unknown individual.

Mario Quiroz, spokesman for CASA de Maryland, says he and the organization’s vice president, Simon Bautista, received menacing phone calls around 3:20 p.m. on May 18. A voicemail message was also left at one of the group’s offices.

Quiroz said a male voice calling from a Baltimore landline told him, “Don’t be surprised if your places are blown up,” before hanging up on him.

Minutes later, Quiroz said, Bautista received a voicemail in which a similar-sounding male voice hurled racial insults and told him, “Don’t be surprised is there is a [expletive] bullet in the back of your [expletive] brain, for being so [expletive] stupid and helping illegals.”

Group leaders also found a voice-mail left at an office location that told leaders, “Don’t be surprised if somebody blows up your …

facility.”

“My first reaction was, it’s Sunday afternoon, it’s time with my family and this is just proof of intolerance and I should not let it affect me,” Quiroz said. The next day he reported the incident to his bosses, and they asked him to contact the police.

Police officials say they assigned an officer to the case who works with a joint terrorism task force in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Kenneth Korenblatt, battalion chief of Montgomery fire and explosive investigations/bomb unit, said they learned of the incidents through the media Monday and sent an official to investigate.

Korenblatt said last year’s fire at a Derwood day labor center has been ruled arson, but not a hate crime — at this point it is a cold case.

“Fortunately it was not a big fire, it just destroyed decking and did not burn the building down,” Korenblatt said.

kmiller@dcexaminer.com

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