Police in the Chicago suburb of New Lenox said Thursday they were investigating a bomb threat aimed at the home of John Prevost, a brother of Pope Leo, after a search of the property turned up no explosives or hazardous materials.
The threat was reported on Wednesday evening at a private residence in New Lenox, Illinois, according to accounts citing police. Officers evacuated nearby homes while they examined the area and conducted a sweep of the location where Prevost lives on the same street cited by police.
In a statement, New Lenox authorities said that "after careful examination, investigators determined that the threat was unsubstantiated and that no explosive devices or hazardous materials were present." The statement also said the investigation remained active as police worked to identify where the false report originated.
The incident comes amid heightened public attention to Pope Leo, who has criticized the war in Iran and was lambasted by President Donald Trump on Sunday for that criticism. The pope, originally from Chicago, leads the 1.4 billion-member Church and has taken a vocal stance against the conflict.
In unusually forceful remarks in Cameroon on Thursday, Pope Leo blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants." Those comments and his public positions have drawn criticism from political figures; Trump accused the pope of being too liberal and "weak on crime," while praising another of the pope's brothers, Louis of Florida, for his support of Trump’s MAGA movement. John Prevost is one of the pope’s older brothers.
New Lenox police did not return a request for comment on the report. Authorities emphasized that, while the search at the residence found nothing hazardous, the probe to trace the origin of the false report was continuing.
Background and context
The threat prompted an immediate safety response from local law enforcement, including evacuations of nearby houses during the search. Investigators have characterized the report as unsubstantiated following their examination of the property.
Officials have not released further details about who made the threat or how it was communicated, and the investigation is focused on determining the source of the false report.