No Explosive Found In Salem Satanic Temple Bomb Threat: Police

UPDATED 2:45 p.m.

SALEM, MA — Salem police cleared the area of the Satanic Temple and said no explosives were found after ordering a shelter-in-place because of a bomb threat earlier Monday afternoon.

Roadways in the area were opened at about 2:15 p.m. on Monday — about 45 minutes after the shelter-in-place was ordered.

Salem residents in the area of Bridge Street between Beacon and Osgood were ordered to shelter-in-place early Monday afternoon as police responded to a bomb threat at the Satanic Temple.

The Temple is located at 64 Bridge Street.

Police asked visitors to avoid the area while the bomb threat was investigated at about 1:30 p.m.

"Responsible public safety protocols require that we take these threats seriously," police said.

The Satanic Temple and art gallery has repeatedly been the target of threats in recent years with most later determined to be hoaxes.

A 42-year-old Chelsea man told Salem police that he traveled to Salem in June 2022 to commit a "hate crime" by setting fire to the front porch of the Satanic Temple.

Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller said at the time that suspect deliberately set the fire by pouring flammable liquid on the porch and igniting it with a cigarette.

In April 2024, an Oklahoma man was charged after he was accused of throwing a pipe bomb onto the porch of the temple and leaving a six-page letter in a flower bed near the temple that was addressed to "Dear Satanist" and advised those in and around the Temple to "repent" and "turn from sin" or risk being destroyed, along with the entire city.