JACKSON — Government buildings in several states were evacuated on Thursday after receiving bomb threats, causing brief disruptions for the second day in a row in some places.
The Mississippi Capitol and courthouses in Arkansas, Hawaii, Maine, Montana and New Hampshire were evacuated or searched, but no explosives were found so far, and the buildings were reopened to the public.
The round of evacuations came a day after an email threat sent to officials in several states led to lockdowns at several state capitols on Wednesday. The threats are also recorded after a series of false reports of shootings at the homes of public officials in recent days.
In Jackson, Mississippi, authorities said the state Supreme Court, which is across from the state Capitol building, received a bomb threat. Explosive-sniffing dogs surrounded the building before officials declared the area clear.
False complaints?
The FBI said Thursday that it was aware of “numerous incidents of false reporting.”
“The FBI takes false threats very seriously because they put innocent people at risk,” Marsay Lawson, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Jackson Division, said in a statement. “While we do not have information that indicates a specific, credible threat, we will continue to work with our municipal, state and federal law enforcement partners.”
A spokesman for the Hawaii State Judiciary said both the Hawaii courts and the federal court in Honolulu received a mass email saying explosives had been placed at court facilities. The message appears to have been sent “by the same person/entity” who sent similar threats to state capitol buildings in many states on Wednesday, spokesman Jan Kagehiro said in an emailed statement.
Officers checked the interior of the state court buildings to confirm there was no threat, but the facilities remained open, he said.
The Pulaski County Courthouse in downtown Little Rock was evacuated Thursday morning after receiving a bomb threat.
Offices reopen
The threat was announced shortly after a hearing began in a lawsuit between the state Board of Corrections and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The governor and the Board have been in an increasingly heated dispute over who runs the state prison system.
Police gave the all-clear after searching the building and allowed people back inside around 11:15 a.m. CDT.
The Cascade County Courthouse in Great Falls, Montana, was evacuated Thursday morning after county authorities received a bomb threat. The court was reopened after police determined the threat was not credible.
Source: With information from AP
