The buildings of at least six state capitols in different US states were evacuated on Wednesday after several bomb threats triggered by the receipt of threatening emails, authorities and local media said.
No explosives or potentially dangerous objects were found at the scene as police evacuated state capitol buildings — official buildings that typically house the state legislature and governor’s offices — in Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi and Montana, following what appears to be a hoax, local media reported.
“Although everyone is safe, KSP (Kentucky State Police) has asked everyone to evacuate the state capitol and is investigating a threat received” by an official, the governor wrote of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, on X (formerly Twitter).
The threat in question: emails sent “en masse” to numerous senior state officials across the country, local media reported.
“I placed several explosives inside your capitol. The explosives are well hidden and they will detonate in a few hours. I will make sure you all die,” one of them read.
Officials in other states confirmed they were also targeted, such as in Michigan, where police decided out of an abundance of caution that the building would remain closed for the day.
The incident comes three days before the anniversary of the storming of the United States Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.
Further events will “wreak havoc in 2024,” a high-tension election year, a senior Georgia state official, Gabriel Sterling, said on X (formerly Twitter).
“They want to increase tensions. Don’t let them do it,” he said, warning however: “don’t draw hasty conclusions as to who is responsible.”
US authorities have warned of a growing number of incidents targeting officials and political figures.
