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Massachusetts man sentenced for threatening to blow up Arizona secretary of state – UPI.com

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Massachusetts man sentenced for threatening to blow up Arizona secretary of state – UPI.com


U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday warned those that threaten election officials will be held accountable by the Justice Department. File Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo

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.

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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.”

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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.

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“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.”



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‘No way to leave’: Mass. families stuck in Middle East amid war in Iran

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‘No way to leave’: Mass. families stuck in Middle East amid war in Iran


Massachusetts families are stuck in the Middle East amid the war in Iran, and Democratic Sen. Ed Markey says the State Department needs to do more to get them home.

The Trump administration is telling Americans to leave the region, and families would love to, but they haven’t been able to get out.

Stacey Schuhwerk of Hingham has been sheltering in place in a Doha hotel since Saturday.

“We hear the missiles outside,” she said. “We can see them.”

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The Hingham mother and her son are among nearly 1,600 Americans trapped in the Middle East with no way to get home.

“Airspace is shut down. There’s no planes,” said Schuhwerk. “There’s no way to leave.”

Flights between Boston and the Middle East are canceled or delayed as travelers express anxiety over the conflict.

At first, U.S. officials told people to shelter in place and register with the State Department — something Schuhwerk did days ago.

“There’s no help there. The last time we called was 20 minutes ago, and they continue to say that ‘We don’t know anything about any plans for government help to get people out,’” she said.

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Embassies and consulates across the region — including the U.S. Embassy in Israel — have now suspended services, saying they simply can’t get Americans out.

“They did not have a plan to conduct this war, and they clearly did not have a plan as to how to evacuate innocent families,” Markey said.

The senator says his office is hearing from Massachusetts families, and he’s pressuring the Trump administration to come up with an evacuation plan fast.

“We are going to apply that pressure on the State Department until every American who wants to leave that region is out,” he said.

Back in Doha, Schuhwerk keeps watching the war outside her window.

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“The talk here is ‘How much defensive ammunition’s left?’ Good question, you know, because the missiles aren’t stopping,” she said. “So how long are we going to be safe here?”

With no clear end to this conflict, she’s worried she could be stuck there for weeks.



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Snow, ice, rain to impact roads in Massachusetts – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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Snow, ice, rain to impact roads in Massachusetts – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


Happy Tuesday! While today started off dry, we’re already looking at snow out there across the area. While this event will primarily stay as rain on the Cape and islands, it will be an icy mix of snow, ice and rain for the rest of us.

The rain/snow line will continue to advance from the south to the north as the evening progresses. Before the changeover, there will be a quick coating to 2 inches for most of our area.

The threshold between the snow and rain will feature sleet and freezing rain, leading to that icing.

For the rest of the night, there will primarily be rain with continued pockets of freezing rain, leading to increasing spotty ice accretion. Be extremely careful on roads, especially since switching between rain and freezing rain can wash off any road salt.

The rain and freezing rain will exit by 6 a.m. Wednesday, but temperatures will still be close to freezing during the morning commute, so watch out for some spotty black ice.

The rest of Wednesday will be really nice! Highs will warm up to the mid 50s with the help of ample sun.

Thursday we start off in the mid 20s and top off in the mid 40s. We’ll be partly sunny with another chance for some wintry weather Thursday night. This primarily looks like some rain and freezing rain, rather than the triple threat with snow too. We’ll keep an eye on that for you.

That will continue into Friday morning. The rest of Friday: cloudy with a chance for a spot shower and highs cooler again in the upper 30s. Saturday will be dry, breezy and cloudy but gorgeous near 50 degrees! There’s a chance for some rain showers Saturday night. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour before you to go bed!

Sunday we start the day mild in the 40s and make it all the way into the upper 50s with more sun. Monday and Tuesday both look bright and in the 60s! Stay tuned.

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Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks

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Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks




Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks – CBS Boston

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Poya Sohrabi hasn’t heard from his family since they took shelter from attacks in Tehran. WBZ-TV’s Mike Sullivan reports.

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