The seal on the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building is seen June 9, 2023, in Washington. File
| Photo Credit: AP
The FBI warned of bomb threats at polling stations in “multiple” U.S. states on a tense Election Day, adding that none were credible, but many appeared to originate from Russia.
In one area of battleground state Georgia, police reported 32 bomb threats made against voting sites, some of which briefly suspended operations while authorities checked for explosives.
The 2024 U.S. presidential campaign has been a particularly volatile one, and security for Election Day has been ramped up given concerns over possible civil unrest, election chicanery and violence against poll workers.
“The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains,” spokeswoman Savannah Syms said in a statement.
“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” she added, urging the public to “remain vigilant.”
Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the state had identified Russia as the source of bomb threats, without elaborating
32 polling stations in Georgia’s Fulton County – which includes the state’s largest city Atlanta — were among those facing threats, County Police Chief Wade Yate told reporters.
He added that five sites were briefly closed while authorities checked for explosives but found nothing.
“None of the polling places were closed for more than 30 minutes,” South Fulton’s Mayor Kobi told AFP outside one of them – Feldwood Elementary School, in South Fulton.
“There are some people who are trying to discourage people in South Fulton from voting, but we are the Blackest city in the United States,” he said.
“We are the descendants of, the sons and daughters of people who faced lynch mobs, water cannon… to exercise the right to vote. And so, we aren’t going to let bomb threats turn us around.”
‘Smelled like fuel’
With Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump deadlocked at the climax of the 2024 race, authorities are keen to reassure jittery Americans that their votes are secure. But they have also bolstered physical security for election operations nationwide.
Poll workers have been given panic buttons, special weapons teams have been deployed on rooftops and hundreds of National Guard personnel have been placed on standby.
The FBI set up a national election command post in Washington to monitor threats 24 hours a day through election week.
The U.S. Capitol Police, who protect the seat of Congress in Washington, arrested a man on Tuesday (November 5, 2024) who “smelled like fuel” and was carrying a lighter and accelerant.
He was stopped at the Capitol visitor centre – part of the complex that was stormed by Mr. Trump supporters in a deadly riot on January 6, 2021, as they sought to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden.
Police Chief J. Thomas Manger later told a press conference that the man had “papers” he intended to deliver to Congress and that it was unclear if he was planning to light himself on fire.
“There’s no indication, right now, that it had anything to do with the election,” he said.
The bomb threats were not the first time U.S. authorities have pointed the finger at Russian interference during the vote.
Hours before polls opened, officials warned that Russia-linked disinformation operations had falsely claimed attempts were being made in battleground states to fraudulently sway the outcome of the election.
Published – November 06, 2024 09:23 am IST
