James W. Clark was sentenced Tuesday following his conviction for one count of making a threatening interstate communication back in August 2023.
Jolyn Hannah | March 12, 2024 | 12news
PHOENIX — A Massachusetts man who threatened Gov. Katie Hobbs when she was serving as Arizona's Secretary of State has been sentenced to three years and six months in federal prison, according to officials.
James W. Clark, 40, was sentenced Tuesday following his conviction for one count of making a threatening interstate communication back in August 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
The FBI arrested Clark in 2022 after online threats he made in February 2021, toward Hobbs.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said people who threaten election officials and workers will be aggressively prosecuted.
“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,” said Garland.
The FBI Phoenix Field Office investigated the case against Clark with assistance from the FBI Boston Field Office.
Court documents said that Clark sent a message via the Arizona Secretary of State’s website through “Contact Elections,” addressing Hobbs by her first name and warning her that she needed to “resign by Tuesday February 16th by 9 am or the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated.”
The threat prompted a partial evacuation of the office as law enforcement conducted bomb sweeps of the building. It also prompted a sweep of Hobbs' car and home in a search for possible explosive devices.
Right after sending the threatening message, "Clark conducted online searches that included the full name of the election official in conjunction with the words 'how to kill' and 'address,'” the news release said. He also conducted online searches involving the Boston Marathon bombing.
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