A man was arrested by the Michigan State Police [MSP] and Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office will be reviewing for possible charges after he allegedly reported that there was a bomb at the Michigan Capitol building on Thursday, according to a statewide press release. Authorities speedily determined the threat to be invalid.
Charges could be brought Friday against Michael Varrone, 48, of Charlotte, following an investigation initiated yesterday morning by the MSP, the press release added.
Varrone was arrested outside his residence this afternoon without incident by the MSP Emergency Support Team and Fugitive Team. He is in custody and expected to be housed at the Lansing City Jail.
As MSP previously reported, Varrone allegedly telephoned a control operator at the Capitol complex early this morning and said everyone needed to evacuate because the building was going to explode. The employee immediately reported the bomb threat to Michigan State Police.
Capitol staff were then notified to ensure their safety and the building – which had already been closed to the public – was closed to staff. Authorities performed a sweep of the premises and by 9 a.m. had confirmed there was no real threat.
Additional information regarding charges and arraignment were not provided by press time.
This comes on the heels of pro-Trump rioters stormed the country’s U.S. Capitol days prior, interrupting the counting of the electoral votes to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s win. Many in the Black community and beyond took to social media, and elsewhere, to share their thoughts of white privilege at its finest.
Alisa Hicks, 32 of Clinton Township, expressed her thoughts about the situation to the Michigan Chronicle and how “we are at war with our own country” just to get someone out of the presidential office and put Biden in.
“[That] was unbelievable and very disturbing, especially how the police force did not take this seriously or was not on standby,” Hicks, a Black woman, said, adding that this was not the first time something like this has happened. “Even my family and friends believed if they were Black people [who took the U.S. Capitol] we would not have gotten that far in the Capitol to destroy and disrupt an electoral vote.”
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