Elberton woman pleads guilty to bomb threat against Athens Democrats
An Elberton woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in Macon to threatening to “blow all the Democrats up” at the Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee Campaign headquarters.
Jessica Diane Higginbotham, also known as Jessica Harriod or Jessica Jones, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison when she is sentenced for the bomb threat on Sept. 7 in U.S. District Court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District.
Higginbotham, 35, is a former employee for a company employed by the local Democratic Party office to provide security at the office on Sunset Drive.
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The investigation began on Dec. 3, after federal prosecutors said an employee at the office in Athens received a disturbing text message.
“Hello, I am writing this message to you to let you know that I am coming by either tonight or in the morning to set a bomb up. So I can blow all the Democrats up,” the message read. “I have other people going to other offices also. If I can’t stop you by breaking in and destroying the property, then I will blow every one up. So be ready to be blown up. This is going to either happen tonight or in the morning. Hope you like being on the wrong team.”
The threat was made just days before the U.S. Senate runoff election. U.S. Senators from Georgia were in Athens on Dec. 4, according to the document.
Athens-Clarke police, the FBI and the U.S. Capitol police began an investigation and the threat was traced to Higginbotham’s cell phone.
The U.S. Attorney reported that on Dec. 4, FBI agents found Higginbotham at a coffee shop in Athens with the phone in her hand and as an agent approached her, she vomited.
The suspect denied making the bomb threat, but a search of the phone linked the phone to the threatening message, prosecutors said.
While investigating the threat, the FBI also learned a burglary occurred at the campaign headquarters in Athens on Nov. 27 and a laptop was stolen.
The FBI noted that the crime appeared to be staged as tables were turned over, but no forced entry was found. The laptop was later recovered in Higginbotham’s possession.
“The bomb threat was leveled by an employee for a political organization days before a federal election in Georgia. This incident was a targeted effort to disturb the peace and disrupt the democratic process,” U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said in a statement released with the news release.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Elberton woman's threat to blow up Democrats may send her to prison
