‘Supermax or death’: FBI arrests Unabomber fan over alleged bomb threats
Federal agents arrested and charged a Los Angeles man for allegedly sending threatening emails to the FBI, explicitly targeting the Los Angeles Field Office and referencing the infamous Unabomber, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
On Thursday, authorities charged Mark William Anten, 52, of Sun Valley, with making threats by interstate communication, a felony offense with a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
Since July, Anten had been sending numerous threats to the FBI, an affidavit said. These threats, outlined in emails, included plans to bomb the agency’s office in Westwood. In one November email, he allegedly boasted about being voted most likely in his graduating class to become the next Unabomber — a notion he seem to embrace.
Agents said they were alarmed by his reference to the Unabomber, the nickname given to Ted Kaczynski, who killed three people and injured nearly two dozen others during a 17-year bombing campaign, starting in the late 1970s. The FBI captured Kaczynski in 1996 and convicted him of murder; he was sentenced to life in a “supermax” prison in Colorado.
Kaczynski died in June.
Kaczynski planted deadly bombs to draw attention to his theories. He became one of the most feared individuals in the U.S. by the time of his capture.
Anten allegedly listed similarities between himself and Kaczynski in the email, proclaiming that he was working on a manifesto and signing the email as Unabomber.
On Nov. 20, two FBI task force officers interviewed Anten at his home. During this meeting, Anten confessed to sending the emails, and the officers warned him to stop contacting agents, the affidavit stated.
Anten disregarded the FBI’s warning, and according to agents, his conduct escalated. On Dec. 5, Anten allegedly sent a series of threatening emails, specifically targeting the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
The next day, Anten reportedly sent an email stating, “I can go on a mass murder spree. In fact, it would be very explainable by your actions.” He signed it, “SuperMax or Death.”
This message was accompanied by a follow-up email containing an image of a Google search for “how to make a dirty bomb.”
The investigation of a fiery car wreck that killed two people at the border checkpoint in Niagara Falls has found no evidence of terrorism.
On that same day, Anten visited the FBI office and emailed agents about his visit, expressing his intention to continue doing so. Surveillance footage confirmed Anten’s visit to the building.
Police arrested Anten at his home, and he cooperated with them. A federal judge ordered Anten to be held without bond and scheduled his arraignment for Jan. 11 in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
