January 3rd 2024.
On Wednesday morning, a threatening mass email was received, warning occupants of at least nine US state capitols that they would ‘all end up dead’. The email stated that “I placed multiple explosives inside of your State Capitol,” and that “The explsoives [sic] are well hidden inside and they will go off in a few hours. I will make sure you all end up dead.”
In response to the threat, law enforcement vehicles were deployed to Mississippi State Capitol, as well as capitols in Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and South Dakota.
The threat caused brief disruptions in most of the state buildings. At the Mississippi Capitol, Capitol Police responded to the bomb threat and bomb-sniffing dogs were deployed, which caused the state Senate to delay its meeting in the morning. Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bailey Martin stated that “This is an ongoing investigation and there is no further threat to the Capitol or surrounding buildings.”
At the Kentucky State Capitol, police evacuated the capitol as a precaution and did not find any explosives. Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams stated that “Whether it’s our US Capitol or our state capitols, the people’s work will not be held hostage by violent behavior or threats.”
The emailed bomb threat comes days after a series of fake reports of shootings at public officials’ homes. On Wednesday afternoon, the FBI said it was ‘aware of the numerous hoax incidents’ at capitol buildings, and that “The FBI takes hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk.” The agency further stated that ‘While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention.’
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
