Hoax bomb threats were reported at polling locations in at least five battleground locations across the U.S. on Election Day, and some authorities are placing the blame on Russia.
Throughout Tuesday, threats were made against various polling sites in Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and while the headlines sound alarming, the FBI said, so far, the threats have turned out to be bogus.
“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in a statement Tuesday afternoon, adding that election integrity was among the bureau’s highest priorities.
In Georgia, two Fulton County polling sites were targeted by bomb threats and were briefly evacuated, but both locations re-opened in less than an hour. In nearby DeKalb County – a Democratic stronghold – police responded to fake threats at an additional six locations, evacuating each polling station and finding no bombs.
Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, blamed Russian interference for the Election Day bomb hoaxes.
For live coverage when polls close, globalnews.ca has up to the minute results.
“They’re up to mischief, it seems. They don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election, and if they can get us to fight among ourselves, they can count that as a victory,” Raffensperger told reporters.
A senior official in Raffensperger’s office, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the Georgia bomb hoaxes were sent from email addresses that had been used by Russians trying to interfere in previous U.S. elections.
The threats were sent to U.S. media and polling locations, the official said. “It’s a likelihood it’s Russia,” the official said.
The Russian embassy in Washington said insinuations about Russian interference were “malicious slander.”
“We would like to emphasize that Russia has not interfered and does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, including the United States,” the embassy said in a statement to Reuters. “As President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed, we respect the will of the American people.”
Ann Jacobs, head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said fake bomb threats were sent to two polling locations in the state capital of Madison, but did not disrupt voting. Jacobs did not know if the threats were linked to Russia.
And in Michigan, despite fake bomb threats being sent to two polling locations in the state capital of Madison, voting continued as planned. A spokesperson for Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state, said they had been notified the threats may be tied for Russia, but assured the public there was no credible threat to voters.
Adrian Fontes, the Arizona secretary of state, a Democrat who is the chief election official in the swing state, said four fake bomb threats had been delivered to polling sites in Navajo County, located in the northeastern part of the state and which includes three Native American tribes.
“Vladimir Putin is being a prick,” Fontes told Reuters.
More Election Day threats
Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., a man armed with a flare gun and bottles that police said smelled of gasoline was arrested during a screening process at the Capitol Visitor Center on Tuesday.
The man attempted to gain access to the building shortly after noon, according to U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger.
He told reporters that Capitol police asked the man to put his belongings on a conveyor belt before noticing the “scent of gasoline” coming from his backpack, which contained two bottles of what appeared to be a fire accelerant.
Officers detained the man and found a flare gun and lighters on his person. He was also carrying a collection of papers that Manger said investigators are still poring over.
“He had papers with him that he said his intent was to deliver to Congress. We’re still going through all of those papers, it’s quite a bit,” Manger said.
The suspect’s vehicle was located at 9th and Maryland Avenue, NE, which has been cleared by security officials, police said. Manger said it appeared the man was from outside the D.C. area.
It’s not clear what the suspect was attempting to do at the Capitol at this point in the investigation, Manger said.
The police chief added, “there’s no indication right now” that the security incident “had anything to do with the election.”
The Capitol Visitor Centre is closed for the day as police investigate.
Manger said Capitol police have been in an “enhanced posture” related to possible security incidents leading up to Election Day, and would maintain that readiness through to the inauguration in January.
China accused of helping Russia
On Tuesday, a report emerged about election interference, claiming that Russian disinformation aiming to reduce trust in the U.S. election received some last-minute help from China
According to research from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, investigators identified several videos linked to Russia that made false claims about voting.
Some of the videos mimicked legitimate U.S. news outlets and featured fake audio clips of law enforcement officials supposedly acknowledging widespread voter fraud.
The researchers found the videos were being amplified by a network of fake social media accounts that originated in China. The accounts had spread pro-China propaganda in the past and shifted their focus to the U.S. election only recently.
— with files from Reuters and The Associated Press