Lobbyist accused of threating shooting at MN Capitol charged with felony

Yahoo

2 days ago

A Minnesota lobbyist accused of sending text messages threatening to shoot people at the state Capitol now faces a felony charge.
Jonathan Michael Bohn, 41, of Woodbury, has been charged with threats of violence after allegedly sending a string of 'threatening and disparaging' messages to an acquaintance, the Carver County Attorney's Office announced Friday.
Bohn, a lobbyist with the Inter Faculty Organization, a union that represents faculty at Minnesota state universities, said he had bought '500 bullets' and was 'excited to have my gun at the capitol and blow somebody's (expletive) face off,' prosecutors allege.
The alleged threats did not mention any specific state lawmaker.
A person received the messages while at a restaurant in Waconia on Wednesday, according to the criminal complaint, which leaves the alleged victim unnamed for privacy reasons.
They came after a 'falling out with the victim over political differences,' the Carver County Attorney's Office said in a news release on the charges.
After learning of the alleged threats, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Bohn's Woodbury home and found an unloaded firearm in a locked case in his garage, according to the complaint. Police questioned took him into custody.
Bohn remained in the Carver County Jail in Chaska Friday afternoon. At his bail hearing Friday, Judge Eric Braaten set Bohn's bond at $1 million, ordered no contact with the alleged victim and ordered him to stay at least half a mile away from the Minnesota Capitol.
In a statement, the Inter Faculty Organization said it had placed Bohn on administrative leave.
'The Inter Faculty Organization (IFO) condemns political violence and threats of violence in any form,' union president Jenna Chernega said in a statement. 'Such acts are unacceptable and stand in direct opposition to the values that guide our work: civil discourse, mutual respect, and advocacy rooted in integrity.'
Rep. Jim Nash, a Waconia Republican, reported the threatening text to law enforcement on Wednesday.
Nash notified the House sergeant at arms, State Patrol and Carver County Sheriff's Office of a 'personal text message to a constituent that was threatening in nature,' the Minnesota House GOP Caucus said in a news release.
'The threat was not aimed at any particular lawmaker but the message did include a threat of violence at the Capitol,' House Republicans said. The news release didn't identify the suspect but said authorities questioned and arrested the person on Wednesday.
Republicans said the House sergeant at arms is not aware of any further threats to the Legislature or its staff.
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Bohn's arrest comes less than a week after a shooting spree that took the lives of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and her husband, Mark, and injured Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, and his wife, Yvette.
The alleged gunman visited the homes of two additional lawmakers that same night and had notebooks naming dozens more targets, federal prosecutors said this week.
Lawmakers' home addresses have already been removed from the Minnesota Legislature's website, and the Capitol saw a larger security presence than usual this week.
Elected officials have again called for new security measures at the state Capitol, such as entry checkpoints with metal detectors and X-ray machines.