Alaska State Troopers have arrested Matthew Edward Stanley, 22, from Seward, who is now facing federal charges for threatening to blow up Governor Mike Dunleavy’s office.
Stanley was apprehended on Wednesday in Seward by troopers, along with Alaska Bureau of Investigations and Department of Homeland Security agents. Federal charges against him include making threats involving explosives, sending false information and hoaxes, and aggravated identity theft.
Earlier, Stanley had been given a court summons on state charges of terroristic threatening. He allegedly sent a threatening message to Dunleavy’s office on April 12, claiming to bomb and shoot it. The message was falsely attributed to the father of a man who had worked with Stanley and demanded increased pay for their union. Troopers quickly determined that neither the father nor the son was responsible for the message.
Evidence linked Stanley to the threatening message through email and Google search queries like what happens when a state governor gets threatened and do state governors take threats seriously.
An August 21 federal indictment revealed Stanley had also searched for personal information about the father and son included in the message’s signature, and checked for news about the son’s arrest after sending the threat.
Stanley was arrested without incident and is being held without bail at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.