{"id":9310,"date":"2024-01-06T11:25:46","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T11:25:46","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"FBI-calls-bomb-threats-that-led-to-brief-lockdowns-and-evacuations-of-some-state-capitols-a-hoax-53576129\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=9310","title":{"rendered":"FBI calls bomb threats that led to brief lockdowns and evacuations of some state capitols a hoax"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"An
An ordinance sniffing dog patrols the Mississippi State Capitol grounds as Capitol Police respond to a bomb threat at the state building in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2024. The structure was emptied and the grounds cleared of vehicles as officers investigated. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Staff
Staff evacuate from the Montana State Capitol, Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2023, after a bomb threat. (Thom Bridge\/Independent Record via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"A
A Capitol Police officer directs traffic away from the Mississippi State Capitol as they respond to a bomb threat at the state house in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2024. The building was emptied, the grounds cleared of vehicles as officers investigated. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Capitol
Capitol Police respond to a bomb threat at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2024. The building was emptied, the grounds cleared of vehicles as officers investigated. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"A
A Capitol Police officer warns off passersby as they respond to a bomb threat at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2024. The building was emptied, the grounds cleared of vehicles as officers investigated. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Traffic
Traffic rolls past the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., as Capitol Police respond to a bomb threat within the building, Wednesday mornin, Jan. 3, 2024. The building was emptied, the grounds cleared of vehicles as officers investigated. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"An
An ordinance sniffing dog patrols the Mississippi State Capitol grounds as Capitol Police respond to a bomb threat at the state building in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2024. The structure was emptied and the grounds cleared of vehicles as officers investigated. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"An
An ordinance sniffing dog patrols the Mississippi State Capitol grounds as Capitol Police respond to a bomb threat at the state building in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2024. The structure was emptied and the grounds cleared of vehicles as officers investigated. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"An
An ordinance sniffing dog patrols the Mississippi State Capitol grounds as Capitol Police respond to a bomb threat at the state building in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2024. The structure was emptied and the grounds cleared of vehicles as officers investigated. (AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Staff
Staff evacuate from the Montana State Capitol, Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2023, after a bomb threat. (Thom Bridge\/Independent Record via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Montana
Montana High Patrol Trooper Brandon Uhl walks the perimeter of the Montana State Capitol, Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2023, after a bomb threat. (Thom Bridge\/Independent Record via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>

\n

A bomb threat emailed to officials in several states early Wednesday briefly disrupted government affairs and prompted some state capitol evacuations, but no explosives were found and federal officials quickly dismissed the threats as a hoax.<\/p>\n

The threats follow a spate of false reports of shootings at the homes of public officials in recent days.<\/p>\n

Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Montana were among the states that evacuated statehouse offices or buildings. <\/p>\n

The FBI said it was aware of numerous hoax bomb threats at state Capitol buildings, but had \u201cno information to indicate a specific and credible threat.\u201d The bureau said it was working with state, local and federal law enforcement to gather, share and act on information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FBI takes hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk,\u201d it said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on X that the Capitol was evacuated while state police investigated a threat received by the Secretary of State\u2019s Office. Lawmakers were elsewhere for ethics training, but Secretary of State spokeswoman Michon Lindstrom said some candidate filings were disrupted.<\/p>\n

The \u201cmass email\u201d warned of multiple explosives that would go off in a few hours. <\/p>\n

Public safety officials locked down the Mississippi Capitol on the second day of the legislative session and the state Senate delayed its morning meeting. The building was evacuated and bomb-sniffing dogs circled before an all-clear was given.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an ongoing investigation and there is no further threat to the Capitol or surrounding buildings,\u201d said Bailey Martin, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.<\/p>\n

The closures were brief and disruptions minimal in most states.<\/p>\n

Montana\u2019s Capitol building reopened within two hours after a sweep of the building was completed and the threat was found not to be credible, said Megan Grotzke, spokesperson for the Department of Administration.<\/p>\n

In Minnesota, oral arguments at the state Supreme Court inside the Capitol were interrupted, but were moved to other courtrooms in the Minnesota Judicial Center, said Kyle Christopherson, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Judicial Branch.<\/p>\n

Other states \u2014 including Wyoming, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Missouri and Maryland \u2014 received threats, but didn\u2019t close. <\/p>\n

Several public officials have been hit by \u201cswatting\u201d calls in recent days. Swatting is a prank call made to emergency services intended to bring a police response. <\/p>\n

Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia was targeted by a fake emergency call on Christmas morning. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was hit by a \u201cswatting\u201d attempt a day after she removed former President Donald Trump from the state\u2019s presidential primary ballot under the Constitution\u2019s insurrection clause, a decision Trump is appealing.<\/p>\n

Other public officials targeted in recent days include Republican U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams of New York, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of swatting cases occur annually.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A bomb threat emailed to officials in several states early Wednesday briefly disrupted government affairs and prompted some state capitol evacuations, but no explosives were found and federal officials quickly dismissed the threats as a hoax.The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":506,"featured_media":9311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=506]Rebecca Reynolds[\/Author] Associated Press","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,508],"tags":[505],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[541],"class_list":["post-9310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-headlines-cm","tag-paywall","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/42627524-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/506"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9312,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9310\/revisions\/9312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9310"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=9310"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=9310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}