Bomb threats forced the evacuation of multiple state Capitols on Wednesday. Law enforcement and state officials in Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, Connecticut, Montana, and Michigan confirmed having received threats or reports of suspicious activity. None of the threats have been found to be credible at press time, and several of the complexes have reopened following sweeps for explosives.
“Starting 2024 with a bomb threat at the Georgia State Capitol,” Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s chief operating officer in the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State, wrote on X. Sterling later confirmed in a subsequent tweet that “the all clear has been given.”
Kentucky Secretary of State communications director Michon Lindstrom told Kentucky Public Radio that a “mass email” containing the threat had been sent to lawmakers and state offices in at least 10 states.
“It just said ‘there is an explosive in your state Capitol,’ so it didn’t make any references to the secretary of state’s office specifically,” Lindstrom added.
A copy of the email received by the Kentucky Secretary of State was obtained by WLKY and contained the subject line “Explosives inside of your State Capitol.”
“I placed multiple explosives inside of your State Capitol,” the email read. “The explsoives are well hidden inside and they will go off in a few hours. I will make sure you all end up dead.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that “while everyone is safe, [state police] has asked everyone to evacuate the state Capitol and is investigating a threat received by the Secretary of State’s Office.” An all-clear was issued following a sweep by law enforcement.
Officials in Georgia, Michigan, and Connecticut confirmed to local reporters that the evacuations at their Capitols had been triggered by threatening emails sent to lawmakers and government officials.
“Earlier this morning, the Connecticut State Capitol Police received complaints from numerous employees about a suspicious email that was received. The email, which apparently was sent to numerous states, claimed to have placed multiple explosives in the Capitol Building,” Connecticut State Capitol Police officer Scott Driscoll wrote in an email to Connecticut Capitol staff and lawmakers on Wednesday. The building was cleared and reopened after several hours of lockdown.
In Michigan, lawmakers received a text message alert indicating they “must evacuate the building” at around 10:16 a.m. local time. Michigan State Police wrote on X that “the Capitol was evacuated, the building searched, and the Michigan State Police currently has MSP Canine teams still sweeping the building. Out of an abundance of caution, the Capitol will remain closed for the rest of the day.”
“Today a bomb threat was made against our Mississippi Capitol building. Thankfully, the situation is clear,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves wrote on X. “I’m incredibly thankful to the Capitol Police and all the Mississippi law enforcement officers who immediately responded to the incident.”
Montana’s KHQ Local News confirmed that the state’s Capitol had been evacuated due to a bomb threat and that the threat was found to not be credible following an investigation by law enforcement.
“In response to this morning’s bomb threat at the Montana State Capitol, Department of Administration General Services has been working closely with local law enforcement officials. A sweep has been completed, and the threat was found to not be credible. The building has been reopened to the public,” a spokesperson for the Montana Department of Administration told KPAX.
