Massachusetts man gets prison for making bomb threat to Arizona election office
Also: Man Sentenced for Sending Bomb Threat to Arizona State Election Official (U.S. Department of Justice)
________________________________________________
Source: Associated Press
Massachusetts man gets prison for making bomb threat to Arizona election office
Updated 7:00 PM EDT, March 13, 2024
PHOENIX (AP) — A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to three years and six months in federal prison for making an online threat to bomb then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ election office in February 2021, the U.S. Justice Department said.
James Clark, 40, of Falmouth, pleaded guilty in August in U.S. District Court in Phoenix to sending a communication containing a bomb threat to an election official.
The threat was one of many made against Hobbs, a Democrat, after she certified the 2020 presidential election that then-Republican President Donald Trump claimed without evidence had been stolen.
Democrat Joe Biden won the election in Arizona by about 10,000 votes, or just 0.3% of the nearly 3.4 million ballots cast statewide. Hobbs was elected governor of Arizona in 2023.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/bomb-threat-election-office-arizona-massachusetts-7318471564eb94b7f43b822241eb550e
________________________________________________
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Man Sentenced for Sending Bomb Threat to Arizona State Election Official
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
A Massachusetts man was sentenced today to three years and six months in prison for sending a communication containing a bomb threat to an election official in the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office.
“Those using illegal threats of violence to intimidate election workers should know that the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable under the law,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The defendant in this case will spend the next three and a half years in federal prison for threatening an Arizona election official. We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute such unlawful threats of violence.”
According to court documents, on or about Feb. 14, 2021, James W. Clark, 40, of Falmouth, sent a message via the Arizona Secretary of State’s website through “Contact Elections,” addressing the election official by her first name and warning her that she needed to “resign by Tuesday February 16th by 9 am or the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated.” Shortly after transmitting the message, Clark conducted online searches that included the full name of the election official in conjunction with the words “how to kill” and “address.” Additionally, on or about Feb. 18, 2021, Clark conducted online searches involving the Boston Marathon bombing.
“James W. Clark sent a bomb threat to an Arizona election official. As a result, law enforcement searched the office building where the official worked, as well as the official’s home and car, for an explosive device,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Public servants who ensure our free and fair elections must be able to do their jobs without fear. The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who target election officials with threats of violence.”
In response to Clark ’s message, law enforcement conducted partial evacuations and bomb sweeps of the building in which the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office was located, including an evacuation of the floor of the Office of the Arizona Governor located in the same building. Law enforcement also conducted bomb sweeps of the election official’s personal residence and of the election official’s car.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-sentenced-sending-bomb-threat-arizona-state-election-official
