March 13 (UPI) — A Massachusetts man who pleaded guilty to threatening to blow up the Arizona secretary of state in the wake of the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol building has been sentenced to jail, according to prosecutors.
James Clark, 38, of Falmouth, Mass., was sentenced Tuesday to three and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of making a threatening interstate communication in August.
The conviction is the latest development in cases brought by the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force launched in June 2021 to deal with the surge in threats directed at election officials following the 2020 election that saw incumbent President Donald Trump lose to Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Following the election, Trump led a campaign undermining the election results that would come to be known as the Big Lie, which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection attempt.
Prosecutors accused Clark of sending the office of then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs a message on Feb. 14, 2021, warning that if she did not resign within two days “the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated.”
After sending the message via the Arizona secretary of state’s website, Clark searched online for Hobb’s address, according to prosecutors. Clark was also accused by prosecutors of searching Hobb’s name alongside “how to kill” as well as for information on the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013 that killed three people and injured more than 260 others.
Law enforcement conducted evacuations and bomb sweeps of the building where the Arizona Secretary of State’s office is located as well as the personal residences and official vehicles of election officials.
“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,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“The defendant in this case will spend the next three years and six months in federal prison for threatening an Arizona election official. We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute such unlawful threats of violence.”
The Election Threats Task Force has brought charges against a number of people accused of threatening election workers, with many of the alleged crimes targeting Arizona officials.
On Feb. 28, an Alabama man was arrested and charged over leaving Arizona election officials in Maricopa County nearly 20 threatening messages on social media in August of 2022.
On Feb. 27, an Indiana man pleaded guilty to threatening to kill a Michigan election worker in the days following the 2020 general election.
Hobbs, who has since been elected the governor of Arizona, has also been the subject of several of the threats.
Amid her gubernatorial race, a 64-year-old Iowa man was arrested for threatening her and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in connection to debunked claims of voter fraud in the state during the 2020 general election.
“Public servants who ensure our free and fair elections must be able to do their jobs without fear,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said Tuesday in a statement. “The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who target election officials with threats of violence.”
BOSTON — The state Senate unanimously approved legislation sponsored by state Sen. John Velis on Thursday that will provide enhanced safety, stability and educational opportunities for military families and strengthen public safety and increase access to justice around military bases, according to an announcement from Velis’s office.
“As we approach Veterans Day, I am incredibly proud to be a part of a legislative body that prioritizes not only our veterans and servicemembers but also our military families as well,” said Velis, the Westfield Democrat who serves as the chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs.
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BankFive has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts for the third consecutive year.
The recognition comes from The Women’s Edge, a nonprofit organization that supports women leaders, according to a community announcement.
The Top 100 Women-Led Businesses list is based on factors such as company revenue, workplace diversity, innovation and customer benefits.
“It’s an incredible honor to once again be recognized among so many exceptional women-led organizations,” Anne Tangen, president and CEO of BankFive, said in the announcement. “This achievement reflects the dedication of our entire team, whose commitment to our customers and communities continues to drive BankFive’s success and positive impact. At BankFive, our mission has always been to empower our employees, support our customers, and strengthen the communities we serve, and this honor reinforces the importance of that work.”
This past year, BankFive celebrated its 170th anniversary with a multi-million dollar renovation of its new Main Street headquarters in Fall River. The bank also announced a new financial literacy program, FiveSense.
The organizations that received the award were honored at The Women’s Edge and the Boston Globe Magazine’s annual awards breakfast Oct. 24 in Boston. The 100 companies on the list represent a combined total of $141 billion in revenue and operating budgets.
The Women’s Edge is a nonprofit organization that aims to help women leaders achieve personal and professional success and make a positive impact within their businesses and communities.
To learn more about the bank, visit bankfive.com.
This story was created by reporter Beth McDermott, bmcdermott1@gannett.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
The GOP’s Mike Kennealy is polling ahead of his two rivals in the race against Gov. Maura Healey in next year’s election, but it’s too early to take a victory lap with many voters still on the sidelines.
Kennealy holds 44% of the vote over primary opponents Brian Shortsleeve and Mike Minogue, both sitting at 13%. More than half of the would-be Republican or Independent voters in the poll, however, said they don’t know enough about the candidates to pick a side.
The Kennealy campaign is celebrating the UMass poll, released this week, as Shortsleeve questions the survey’s credibility, and Minogue points to donations as a stronger indicator of how Bay State Republicans are leaning a year out from the election.
UMass pollsters surveyed 800 respondents, with 416 Democrats and 183 Republicans or pure independents. Healey, the Democrat incumbent, leads each of the three GOP candidates by at least 21%.
“This poll confirms what we have been hearing in every corner of the Commonwealth: voters recognize that Mike Kennealy is the only candidate prepared to take on Maura Healey in 2026 and deliver real results,” Kennealy campaign manager Ben Hincher said in a statement.
“Mike will lower energy costs for Massachusetts families, cut taxes and burdensome regulations, audit the legislature, end sanctuary state policies, restore excellence in our schools, and return common sense to state government.”
Roughly a third of the respondents voting in a preview of the Republican primary stated that they were “not too familiar” with Kennealy, Shortsleeve and Minogue, and 19% “not familiar at all” with the GOP candidates.
Kennealy, a former housing and economic development secretary in Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration, first entered the race in April. Shortsleeve, a venture capitalist who ran the MBTA under Baker, followed behind, announcing his campaign in May.
Minogue, a major donor to President Trump and former CEO of heart-pump maker Abiomed Inc., jumped into the race last month.
In an email to supporters, Jim Barnett, general consultant for the Shortsleeve campaign, said the poll shouldn’t be taken seriously. He argued that the survey of Republican and Independent voters of the GOP candidates lacks credibility, with the rigor being “embarrassingly shallow,” and that the results “should have never been released.”
Barnett suggested that general election results, which pit Shortsleeve as the closest opponent individually to Healey over Kennealy and Minogue, are “far more credible.”
“Those toplines align with historic partisan margins at this stage of a campaign and other independent polling,” Barnett stated. “In contrast, the ‘Republican primary’ subsample lacks proper screening, weighting, and mathematical coherence, making it unfit for analysis or reporting.”
After Minogue announced his campaign in October, the South Hamilton resident received a $1.8 million first-month haul, nearly matching what Kennealy has raised and loaned himself during his months-long run since the spring.
Shortsleeve has raised just over $1 million.
“Mike is incredibly grateful for the support his campaign is seeing across Massachusetts with hundreds of volunteers and twice as many donors as the rest of the Republican field,” a Minogue campaign spokesperson told the Herald. “In just 21 days, he’s already passing lifetime politicians who’ve been in the race for more than half a year. People are ready for a new kind of leadership focused on accountability, affordability, and opportunity for every family in our state.”
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