JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Government buildings in multiple states were evacuated Thursday following bomb threats, causing brief chaos in some areas for the second day in a row.
The Mississippi State Capitol and courthouses in Arkansas, Hawaii, Maine, Montana and New Hampshire were evacuated or searched, but no explosives were immediately found and the buildings reopened to the public.
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The evacuations came after emailed threats to officials in multiple states on Wednesday prompted lockdowns of multiple state capitols. The threat also comes in the wake of a series of false reports about shootings at public servants' homes in recent days.
In Jackson, Mississippi, officials said the state Supreme Court, located across from the state Capitol, received a bomb threat. Bomb-sniffing dogs circled the perimeter of the building before authorities cleared the area.
The FBI said Thursday that it is aware of “numerous incidents of disinformation.”
Although no explosives were found, bomb threats were reported in several states across the country.
“The FBI takes false threats very seriously because they put innocent people at risk,” Marcie Lawson, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Jackson Division, said in a statement. “While we have no information indicating a specific and credible threat, we continue to work with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.”
A Hawaii attorney's office spokeswoman said both the Hawaii courthouse and the federal courthouse in Honolulu received a mass email stating that an explosive device had been placed in court facilities. The message appears to have been sent by “the same person/entity” that sent similar threats to state capitols in many states on Wednesday, spokesperson Yan Kagehiro said in an emailed statement. . Deputies were cleaning the inside of the state courthouse building to make sure there were no threats, but the facility remained open, officials said.
The Pulaski County Courthouse in downtown Little Rock was evacuated Thursday morning after receiving a bomb threat. The threat was announced shortly after hearings began in a lawsuit between the state Commission of Corrections and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The dispute between the governor and the board of governors over who runs the state prison system is becoming increasingly heated.
After searching the building, police issued all permits and allowed people back inside around 11:15 a.m. CT.
The Cascade County Courthouse in Great Falls, Montana, was evacuated Thursday morning after the county received a bomb threat. Court resumed after law enforcement officials determined the threat was not credible.
In northwestern Montana, the Mineral County Justice Courthouse was also evacuated after the county received an emailed bomb threat, Sheriff Ryan Funke said in a statement. Law enforcement officers searched a courtroom in Superior, a town of fewer than 900 people near the Idaho border.
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Funke said in a statement that officials consulted with federal and state authorities and determined the incident did not pose a threat to the public or court personnel.
Bomb threats were also made to several courthouses in New Hampshire and Maine. Courthouses in Maine's Cumberland and Kennebec counties were temporarily closed but reopened after searches were conducted, said Barbara Cardone, a spokeswoman for the Maine court system. The York County Justice Center in Maine was also closed for the day.
