Federal authorities arrested a Tucson man after an email allegedly warned of an imminent bomb strike on the White House and other sites in Washington, D.C.
Jacob Aaron Hicks, 46, was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with making an interstate threat to injure. He made an initial appearance in federal court Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said.
The case turns on an alleged message sent to a local Tucson television station and on draft messages found in a linked account. Investigators treated the claim as a direct threat against protected federal sites. The FBI led the response with help from the U.S. Secret Service.
A criminal complaint states that Hicks allegedly emailed a local Tucson television station on Sept. 23. The message claimed there would be an “imminent bomb strike against the White House and other locations in Washington, D.C.”
The station alerted law enforcement. That referral started the investigation. Authorities later identified Hicks as the alleged sender of the email.
Fox News Digital reported that investigators also found additional email drafts in an account linked to Hicks. Those drafts, also dated Sept. 23, were addressed to other news organizations. They contained similar threats involving the White House and other locations in Washington, D.C.
Public materials do not state whether any of those draft messages were ever sent. Investigators have not publicly released the full text of the alleged email beyond the “imminent bomb strike” language described in the complaint summary.
Prosecutors charged Hicks with making an interstate threat to injure. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced the charge and confirmed his Thursday initial appearance in federal court.
No case number, statute citation, or specific courthouse venue appears in the public summary released with the announcement. Authorities have not publicly described the outcome of that first appearance, including detention status or any release conditions.
U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine stressed the duty to treat such threats as serious matters.
"We must take threats of violence like this one seriously,"
Courchaine also thanked the newsroom that made the report and the agents who moved on it.
"I am grateful to our local news station for referring this threat to law enforcement and to the FBI for addressing the situation quickly, professionally and with the level of commitment it required."
The FBI is leading the investigation. The U.S. Secret Service assisted. FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day credited the station’s decision to contact authorities.
"We appreciate the community partner who reported the threat to law enforcement. Cooperation and partnership are essential to protecting the American people,"
Day’s statement framed the case as one that required fast partnership between a local newsroom and federal agents. Courchaine’s remarks tracked the same point: the station’s referral and the FBI’s response closed the gap between an alleged threat and an arrest.
The verified spine is narrow and clear. An alleged Sept. 23 email to a Tucson television station claimed an imminent bomb strike on the White House and other D.C. locations. Drafts with similar language sat in a linked account and were addressed to other news organizations. Agents identified Hicks as the alleged sender. He was arrested Wednesday, charged with making an interstate threat to injure, and brought before a federal judge Thursday.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed any motive. They have not said whether devices, explosives, or operational plans existed beyond the emails and drafts. The name of the Tucson station has not been released in the materials describing the case. Absolute calendar dates for the Wednesday arrest and Thursday appearance have not been stated beyond those relative labels.
Investigators will need to determine the full scope of the account activity, whether any other messages left the draft folder, and what digital evidence ties the account to Hicks. Those questions sit inside the ordinary work of an interstate threat case. They also sit inside the special protective duty that attaches to threats aimed at the White House.
An interstate threat to injure is a federal offense. It reaches conduct that crosses state lines and targets injury. When the alleged target is the White House and other Washington locations, the protective stakes rise at once. The Secret Service’s role in the investigation reflects that reality.
The complaint language centers on a claimed “imminent bomb strike.” That wording is the government’s description of the alleged email, not a finding that any bomb existed or that any attack was underway. Hicks faces a charge. He has not been convicted. The allegation remains just that until a court resolves it.
Still, the sequence shows a working pipeline. A newsroom received a threat message. It contacted law enforcement. Federal agents traced the account, found related drafts, and made an arrest. The U.S. Attorney’s Office then put the case into open court. That chain is the practical answer to anyone who wonders whether emailed threats against national sites draw real attention.
Courchaine’s first line remains the policy point the office chose to put on the record. Threats of violence get taken seriously. Day’s line adds the partner piece. Community reporting and federal follow-through are treated as essential, not optional.
After an initial appearance, federal threat cases move through standard stages: discovery, possible detention hearings, motions practice, and either a plea or trial. None of those later steps have been described in the public announcement tied to this arrest. No hearing schedule beyond the Thursday appearance has been released in the materials at hand.
What is public is the charge itself, the alleged Sept. 23 email language about an imminent bomb strike on the White House and other D.C. locations, the related drafts, the Wednesday arrest, and the Thursday court appearance. The FBI continues to lead. The Secret Service remains part of the investigative picture already described by officials.
For readers tracking threats against federal sites, the open questions are procedural and evidentiary. Investigators have not said whether further charges are under review. They have not released a fuller statement of facts from the complaint. They have not named the Tucson station that received the message. Those gaps do not erase the core allegation or the charge now pending.
Threats aimed at the White House test whether the system still treats words of violence as a law-enforcement problem rather than background noise. In this case, a local station reported the message, federal agents moved, and a Tucson man now faces an interstate threat charge in open court.
