Omaha Police investigating threatening notes left on church doors

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A pair of threatening notes were left on the doors of two Omaha churches on Saturday and are currently being investigated.

The notes claim to be from an abortion rights extremist group called Jane’s Revenge.

One of the notes contains threats against the lead minister of the Christ Community Church, located near Interstate 680 and Dodge Street.

The church said its security team, both armed and unarmed, is highly trained and aware of the situation. Future events will go on as planned, the church said.

Sunday night, Gov. Pete Ricketts released a statement saying, “Since May, pregnancy resource centers and pro-life organizations have been threatened, vandalized and even firebombed with Molotov cocktails.  It’s domestic terrorism, plain and simple.”

He went on to say those making the threats and attacking the organizations must be held accountable.

Another note was left at the St. John Paul II Newman Center, which is near the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s campus.

The Rev. Dan Andrews, pastor and director of the Newman Center, said that the note causes the center great concern and that its priority is the safety of the students.

In June, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson and 19 other attorneys general urged the federal government to investigate “terroristic acts” against anti-abortion organizations.

The letter suggested the Department of Justice investigate Jane’s Revenge in particular.

The attorneys general said charities have been firebombed and anti-abortion groups have been terrorized after the draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked.

At the time, the FBI announced that it would begin to investigate the attacks.

On Monday, State Sen. Dave Murman said that Jane’s Revenge is a “left-wing hate group” and that Nebraskans should be free from the threat of politically motivated terror.

“The note threatened to shoot up the Newman Center and of course there’s quite often students in that center,” Murman said. “If those threats are eventually carried out, more than just threats, it would be a disaster.”

Murman said these threats should be investigated with “every resource possible.”

He questioned why law enforcement hasn’t been able to name any persons of interest yet.

“None of them have even had persons of interest interviewed, with as many as 18 acts of violence against those different centers all over the country,” he said. “A person would think there should be enough leads to at least have some investigations.”

The Catholic Diocese of Lincoln said that while it hasn’t received any threats, it places high priority on the security of its facilities.

“We will continue to be vigilant and pray for peace for our state, our nation and the world,” the diocese said in a statement.

The Omaha Police Department said that it’s working with local and federal law enforcement partners to conduct investigations and that it takes any threat of violence seriously.

Anyone with information about these threats is being asked to contact UNO Public Safety at 402-554-2648 or Omaha police at 402-444-5600.