Russian email accounts sent a series of hoax bomb threats targeting the Manhattan district attorney and court buildings for three straight days this week amid a grand jury investigation of former president Donald Trump.
Security has ramped up outside the Manhattan district attorney’s office and surrounding courthouses after a series of unsubstantiated bomb threats this week. (Frank G. Runyeon | Law360)The unsubstantiated threats, now under investigation by the NYPD and FBI, were emailed to local government officials at a Manhattan community board, according to police. They came from Russian email addresses in the early morning hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday listing government buildings and schools as the targets of alleged pipe bombs, according to the local board official who received them.
“The FBI told me that they appear to be coming from Russia,” said Susan Stetzer, district manager of Community Board 3, who read the emails to Law360 Friday. The board received four email threats over the three days, often sent from @mail.ru domains under different names, she said. The NYPD confirmed the board was the recipient of the original bomb threat on Tuesday.
The FBI declined to comment.