Police officials temporarily sealed Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters Tuesday evening, after a threat against the social media giant was called in to authorities
Less than a week after Facebook's request to fund $200,000 annually for a full-time beat cop patrolling the city was unanimously approved by the City Council, police officials swarmed the Menlo Park headquarters and sealed off the campus. The surprised act of security was to protect the company and its employees from a potential threat that was called in to the San Francisco Police Department around 7 p.m. local time (4 p.m.ET) on Tuesday.
According to a report from San Jose Mercury News, the officers sealed the entrance of the campus with tape, while they searched the contained area for any danger. The employees were asked to stay put until police dropped the danger flag in the area. After a thorough check-up of the campus, officers concluded that there was nothing of harm. Facebook called off the day and the employees were allowed to leave about 8:30 p.m. local time (11:30 p.m. ET).
As soon as the San Francisco Police Department received the threat, the Menlo Park police was ordered to act on the situation, said Menlo Park police Cmdr. Dave Bertini.
"It was a totally not credible, unsubstantiated threat," Bertini told Reuters, without specifying the threat. "I am not even sure that it was specifically to the Menlo Park campus of Facebook."
Facebook officially set up its headquarters in the current Menlo Park location, the former campus of Sun Microsystems, in December 2011. The campus houses more than 6,000 employees, regarded as one of the biggest employer in Menlo Park.
The incident took place less than a week after the City Council unanimously approved Facebook proposal to spend $200,000 every year for at least three years to have a full time beat cop patrolling its neighborhood. While the act was purely out of concern for the city, as Facebook puts it, the company received some criticism.