PRESS RELEASE

MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE STUDENT CHARGED WITH
FALSELY REPORTING TO AUTHORITIES THAT
A MUSLIM MAN WAS PLANNING TO BOMB SEARS TOWER

Boston, MA... A Georgetown man has been indicted on charges that he used the Internet to convey to the National Security Agency a false bomb threat that a Muslim man living in Chicago, Illinois was going to use a suicide bomb on the Sears Tower.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Sharon E. Ormsby, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New England, announced today that ADAM HART, age 21, of Georgetown, Massachusetts, was arrested this afternoon on a one-count indictment charging him with maliciously conveying false information.

“Hoax bomb threats prey on the public’s worst fears and divert the time, attention and precious resources of law enforcement from its true mission. The allegations in this case are particularly despicable in that the defendant is accused of targeting an innocent member of the Muslim community by falsely claiming that the Muslim man was planning to bomb a Chicago landmark,” stated U.S. Attorney Sullivan. “This prosecution should serve as a warning to any person who is contemplating making a false threat - such actions will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

According to the indictment and an affidavit previously filed in court in support of an application for a federal search warrant, on April 22, 2006, HART, at the time a student at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, transmitted a false message over the Internet to the National Security Agency (NSA). The email message stated that a college student in Chicago, Illinois, whom HART identified by name, had been talking to HART on-line about strapping a bomb to his chest and walking into the Sears Tower, and HART asked the NSA to take action against that person. Based on HART’s message, federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities in Chicago began taking steps to secure the Sears Tower. In addition, officers assigned to the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force began investigating the person whom HART had identified. Investigation determined, however, that the message which HART had sent to the NSA was false, and had targeted a Muslim student to whom HART had sent ethnically derogatory email messages during the days preceding his email to the NSA. After HART transmitted the false message, he emailed the student in Chicago that he had just “ratted him out.” Since the time of the alleged offense, HART has transferred to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

HART appeared today in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler. He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released from custody on a $10,000 unsecured bond. An initial status conference is scheduled for January 16, 2007. If convicted, HART could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth Police. It is being prosecuted by Aloke Chakravarty of Sullivan’s Anti-Terrorism and National Security Section.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Press Contact: Samantha Martin, (617) 748-3139