FBI Arrests Tennessee Man For Knoxville Thanksgiving Bomb Threat On Facebook
Dale Jeffries II, 43, of Knoxville, Tennesseee, was taken into custody by FBI agents after threatening to bomb the city on Thanksgiving via a Facebook post.
Jeffries was arrested Wednesday at a business in west Knoxville after posting the blatant bomb threat against the city on Facebook the previous day, WKRN-TV reported among other local news stations. He wrote, “I built a bomb and everyone in Knoxville will die on Thanksgiving."
The post has since been deleted but screenshots show it received hundreds of reactions and nearly 1,000 shares. Jeffries appeared in U.S. District court and has a pending detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017. He was appointed a public defender and is being held until the hearing on Wenesday.
Jeffres has had previous issues with social media and the law. He was convicted of making threats to a judge in a YouTube video in 2011 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Jeffries’ mother, Charlotte, told WKRN-TV that the system had failed her son.
“I tried to ask myself what am I thankful for today? And there’s lots of things but when you’re hit hard like this you start to doubt who God is, doubt yourself,” said Charlotte Jeffries.
She noted that PTSD and bipolar issues have plagued him for years, and that he is a University of Tennessee graduate and an Army veteran. She said he should be given mental health treatment instead of prison time.
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