Bomb threat call made to State Capitol
The Mississippi State Capitol Wednesday morning was among several state capitol buildings that received bomb threat calls. Fortunately, nothing has been found as operations in the Jackson building were returning to normal.
The Capitol later was reopened after a lockdown greeted lawmakers for their second day of the 2024 Legislative session.
Department of Public Safety personnel and Capitol Police cleared the building after a thorough search with no explosives or suspicious equipment found, according to a DPS spokeswoman.
“The Mississippi Department of Public Safety was notified earlier this morning of suspicious activity in and around the Mississippi State Capitol. Anyone conducting business at the Capitol should confirm delays regarding business hours for the day or visit legislature.ms.gov for updates.
Standard emergency procedures are being followed and conducted. At this time, no further comment will be made, and additional information will be provided when possible.”
Update:
“The Mississippi Department of Public Safety has successfully cleared the Mississippi State Capitol. The building was thoroughly searched, and no explosives or suspicious equipment were found.
This is an ongoing investigation and there is no further threat to the Capitol or surrounding buildings.”
Bailey Martin, Dept. of Public Safety
The threat did delay business in the state Legislature on Wednesday. Senators were supposed to meet at 10 a.m. but their session was delayed to 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
Gov. Tate Reeves took to X/Twitter to react on the response to the bomb threat.
State Rep. Rodney Hall (R-Southaven), starting his second day as a state legislator, commented Wednesday afternoon that it was fitting legislators were attending the annual prayer breakfast to pray for the State when the call was made to the Capitol.
“The Capitol Police and security staff are extremely competent and I’m happy that the people’s work wasn’t impeded,” Hall said in a text to DeSoto County News.
State Rep. Dan Eubanks (R-Walls), who is also among candidates running for U.S. Senate in 2024, said he thought it was odd the threat would take place before a single piece of legislation had been submitted or assigned.
“It tells me that it was not about a specific legislation,” Eubanks said in a text to DeSoto County News. “The fact that apparently many other state capitols, including blue states, had a similar threat today, it probably wasn’t because we are a Republican state.”
According to NewsNation, Mississippi was among a number of State Capitol buildings that received bomb threats, however there are no reports of incidents that took place. Calls were received to Capitol buildings in Connecticut, George, Michigan, Kentucky, and Montana, in addition to Mississippi.
Another report on the bomb threats was provided by the CNN website.
