Massachusetts man arrested on suspicion of making bomb threat against Ariz. election official
A Massachusetts man has been arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat to a state election official in the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office last year.
According to the Justice Department, James W. Clark, 38, used a message submission form on the Secretary of State’s website to demand the resignation of the attorney general and threatened to detonate an explosive device if that didn’t occur.
“Your attorney general needs to resign by Tuesday February 16th by 9 am or the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated,” Clark wrote to the election official on February 14, 2021, according to the Justice Department.
An indictment, filed on July 26, says Clark also searched for the election official’s address online, as well as “how to kill” the election official. Clark also, according to the indictment, used search terms referencing the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, a domestic terrorist attack that killed three and injured more than 200 people.
Clark is being charged with one count of making a bomb threat, one count of perpetrating a bomb hoax and one count of communicating an interstate threat.
He faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison for making a bomb threat and up to five years for the remaining charges.
The case is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, established last summer to address a rise in threats against election officials and workers. FBI Phoenix is investigating the case, with the assistance of FBI Lakeville (Mass.).
In July, two top election officials in Yavapai County resigned, citing a year and a half of threats and criticism from backers of the baseless claim that there was fraud in the 2020 election.
Go Deeper: Across AZ, elections officials leave office following harassment over 2020
Across the nation, election officials have exited their posts in response to increased and relentless vitriol from voters.
In the fourth public hearing in mid-June, several election officials testified before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection that they received harassment and death threats in response to former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Reach criminal justice reporter Gloria Rebecca Gomez at grgomez@gannett.com or on Twitter @glorihuh.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Massachusetts man arrested in bomb threat to AZ elections official
