Man Indicted for Making Bomb Threats to FCC, FBI; December Meeting Was Interrupted
Tyler Barriss was indicted for allegedly phoning in bomb threats to the FCC and FBI in December, said a release Thursday of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. It said Barriss, 25, of Los Angeles, was indicted…
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on two counts of making hoax bomb threats, one of which led to the evacuation of the FCC's meeting room during the high-profile Dec. 14 meeting at which commissioners adopted a net neutrality rollback order (see 1712140039). According to government evidence, Barriss made threats by phone that explosives were in the building and set to detonate, the release said. The meeting was halted and the room evacuated, but no explosives were found, it said. A similar threat was made Dec. 22 to the FBI after work hours; again, no explosives were found. A grand jury indictment against Barriss was unsealed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. "Barriss currently is detained in Wichita, Kansas, where he faces state and federal charges for his role in a Dec. 28, 2017, 'swatting' that led to a fatal shooting by law enforcement. 'Swatting' refers to a hoax intended to cause law enforcement to respond to a particular location," the release said. The FCC didn't comment.