A man from Massachusetts has been given a prison sentence of over three years for sending a bomb threat to an election official in Arizona in 2021, according to an announcement by the Justice Department on Tuesday.
James W. Clark, 40, pleaded guilty in August to one charge of making a threatening interstate communication to the election official’s office. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said stated that he demanded the top election official “resign by Tuesday February 16th by 9 am or the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated.”
After sending the message on or about Feb. 14, 2021, Clark then searched online using the name of the election official with the words “how to kill” and “address,” as per the DOJ’s press release. Shortly after, he looked for information about the Boston Marathon bombing.
“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,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“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,” he added.
At the time of the threats, law enforcement conducted partial evacuations and conducted sweeps of the building of the Arizona’s Secretary of State office, the official’s private residence and car. Clark was arrested in July 2022 on the bomb threat allegations.
“Election officials, their staffs, and volunteers are essential to our democracy and any threat to these public servants is completely unacceptable,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Akil Davis said in a statement. “As part of our mission to defend the democratic process, this case demonstrates that the FBI remains prepared to respond to these threats in an urgent and timely fashion.”
