At least nine US state capitol buildings evacuated after bomb threats

At least nine state capitol buildings across the US were under evacuation orders on Wednesday due to bomb threats, according to officials.

Government buildings in Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan Mississippi and Montana received bomb threats via email to offices of secretaries of states and legislative officials.

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it was working with state, local and federal law enforcement to gather, share and act on information. The agency said it was aware of numerous hoax bomb threats at state capitol buildings, but had “no information to indicate a specific and credible threat”.

“The FBI takes hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk,” the agency said.

Officials from some of these states have also confirmed the threats and issued statements.

Scott Driscoll of the Connecticut state capitol police told staff and legislators: “Earlier this morning, the Connecticut State Capitol Police received complaints from numerous employees about a suspicious email that was received. The email, which apparently was sent to numerous states, claimed to have placed multiple explosives in the Capitol Building.”

Andy Beshear, the Kentucky governor, wrote on X: “While everyone is safe, KSP has asked everyone to evacuate the state Capitol and is investigating a threat received by the Secretary of State’s Office. We are aware of similar threats made to other offices across the country. We thank our first responders for their quick response, and we will provide more updates.”

The Michigan state police spokesperson Lori Dougovito said: “In response to a threat made involving the Michigan state capitol building in Lansing, we can confirm a threat was emailed to a general account for the Michigan state capitol commission around 7.45am, today, Wednesday, 3 Jan, 2024.”

“We are aware of similar threats sent to government agencies across the country,” Dougovito said.

Dougovito said the building would remain closed for the rest of the day as the situation remains under investigation.

Kentucky state police evacuated their capitol “out of an abundance of caution”, Michon Lindstrom, spokesperson for the Kentucky secretary of state, Michael Adams, told Axios.

Diamond Garcia, a Hawaii state representative told local news outlet Hawaii News Now that most states that had received the threat had been given the all clear, except Hawaii.

“They’re still working through it here. Making sure there is no actual threat to those who work here,” Garcia said.

Other states, like Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi and Montana had also reopened their capitols since no explosives were found, local authorities said.

Idaho Capital Sun reported the state capitol in Boise was searched and cleared early morning.

The Idaho state police communications director Aaron Snell told the Idaho Capital Sun: “At about 5:30am. Idaho received the threat. In response, ISP mobilized explosive detection canines and deployed additional troopers to assist (the department of administration) personnel in conducting thorough searches of both the interior and exterior of the building. By 7.30am, the building search concluded with no explosives found.”

Mississippi department of public safety wrote on Facebook that the “threat has now been cleared”, adding that the building was thoroughly searched.

For many of these states, these threats come in the early days of their legislative sessions. Wednesday marks Maine’s first day of legislation.

In recent weeks, other hoax threats were made to individual politicians. Last week, the Republican Florida senator Rick Scott’s home was swatted.

On Christmas Day, in one of several instances of receiving similar threats, authorities arrived at the home of the republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in Rome, Georgia, in response to a swatting call to a suicide hotline.