The FBI confirmed it is “aware” of bomb threats that targeted election offices in several Oregon counties. Local clerks in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson reported receiving threatening emails last week, just days after election day.
The FBI said that none of the threats were deemed credible.
“Election integrity is among the FBI’s highest priorities,” the FBI said in a statement. “We will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners to respond to any threats to election officials and to protect our communities.”
The Deschutes county clerk, Steve Dennison, told Central Oregon Daily News: “We’ve referred these threats to our partners in law enforcement as well as the secretary of state’s office.”
The Crook county clerk, Cheryl Seely, told KTVZ that the county had received “the email bomb threat just before closing last Friday”.
“We followed all necessary procedures for this type of situation. I have since learned that most Oregon counties reported receiving a bomb threat via email that same day. There is an ongoing investigation in this matter,” Seely added.
The Jefferson county clerk, Kate Zemke, also told the news outlet that her office had received the email and addressed the threat in similar fashion.
The news comes amid a series of hostile election-related incidents. Last month, ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, were set on fire with incendiary devices. Federal authorities said they were offering a $25,000 reward in connection with the incidents.
The devices used were marked with the words “free Gaza”, but it’s not yet clear to authorities if the person who set the devices had grievances related to the Gaza war or if it was a tactic to sow confusion, 12 News Now reported.
On Tuesday, an area near the Deschutes county courthouse in Bend was closed off while the Oregon state police bomb squad and police responded to a suspicious package that turned out to be hygiene products.
In 2020, a Bend, Oregon, man was sentenced to federal prison for making a hoax bomb and threatening to blow up a courthouse. Kellie Kent Cameron, 32, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.
