Forsyth Synagogue, Teen Bomb Hoax Family Reunite to Celebrate Community Healing

Mike and Tiffany Hansen stood beside Rabbi Levi Mentz at the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners meeting on March 19, holding a proclamation that designates March 29, 2026, as "Education & Sharing Day in Forsyth County." Their presence together was, by any measure, unlikely: their son, Cooper Wells Hansen, was the 18-year-old arrested in 2023 for posting a bomb hoax against the rabbi's congregation.

On March 21, 2023, chaos descended on Congregation Beth Israel, Forsyth County's only synagogue, after a reported bomb threat forced the building to be cleared and swept. Deputies received reports that morning of a bomb threat posted to Twitter stating a pipe bomb had been placed at a local Jewish synagogue. Authorities identified Congregation Beth Israel on Brannon Road as the target because it was the only Jewish synagogue in the county. Cooper Wells Hansen, 18, was arrested and charged with terroristic threats and acts, and the investigation was turned over to Forsyth County detectives and the FBI.

Nearly three years later, Chabad of Forsyth County hosted a reconciliation event bringing together members of Congregation Beth Israel and the Hansen family. The occasion was formalized at the Board of Commissioners meeting on March 19, 2026, where Mike Hansen and Tiffany Hansen joined Rabbi Mentz to receive the proclamation establishing March 29 as "Education & Sharing Day in Forsyth County."

Rabbi Mentz reflected on the arc from threat to reconciliation: "Retroactively, you now discover that it was all positive."

The gathering was framed around themes of community kindness, education, and sharing, with Chabad of Forsyth County organizing the outreach that led the two families back into the same room. Congregation Beth Israel operates out of a facility on Brannon Road, part of the Chabad of Forsyth campus off Ga. 400 near Cumming.

The event drew praise from community members who know Mentz and his wife. Becky Leon, commenting publicly on the story, wrote: "Rabbi Mentz and his wife are an inspiration to us all. They make Forsyth County a better place for everyone."

The reconciliation stands as a notable chapter in Forsyth County's civic life, where the county's only synagogue and the family of the man who once threatened it chose a public ceremony of acknowledgment over lasting estrangement.