A 46-year-old Arizona man has been arrested and federally charged after allegedly sending an email threatening mass bombings at the White House and other locations in the Washington, D.C., area, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Jacob Aaron Hicks, 46, of Tucson, was arrested Oct. 7 and charged with making an interstate threat. He appeared in federal court the following day.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Hicks allegedly emailed a local Tucson news station on Sept. 23, claiming an imminent bomb attack would target the White House and other locations around the nation’s capital. The station notified law enforcement, leading to an investigation.
Investigators later identified Hicks as the alleged sender and found additional unsent email drafts from the same account. The drafts, which were also dated Sept. 23, were addressed to other news organizations and contained similar threats against the White House and surrounding areas.
U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said authorities take threats of violence seriously and thanked the local news station for reporting the email to law enforcement.
“I am grateful to our local news station for referring this threat to law enforcement, and to the FBI for addressing the situation quickly, professionally, and with the level of commitment it required,” Courchaine said.
The FBI is investigating the case with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service. The prosecution is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona in Tucson.
Authorities have not announced any further details about the alleged threats. The case remains ongoing. Hicks has been charged by criminal complaint and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.