Man who made bomb threat against Arizona election official gets 3.5 years in prison

By Afia Barrie, CNN

(CNN) — A man who sent a bomb threat in 2021 to Katie Hobbs, then-Arizona’s secretary of state and now Democratic governor, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

James Clark of Falmouth, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in August 2023 to one count of making a threatening interstate communication after being indicted the previous summer on three counts, including making a bomb threat, the Justice Department announced.

“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.

According to the DOJ, Clark sent a message to the elections division of the Arizona secretary of state’s office saying “your attorney general” should resign or “the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated,” via a web form. Clark addressed the message to Hobbs, according to court filings.

Prosecutors say Clark also searched online for Hobbs’ name along with the words “how to kill” and “address.” Other searches from Clark included ones about the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.

Following Clark’s threats, law enforcement said they conducted partial evacuations and bomb sweeps of the Arizona secretary of state’s office as well as Hobbs’s home and car.

The case was brought by the Justice Department’s election threats task force, which was established in June 2021 to address threats of violence against election workers.

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