By SDCN Editor
A federal jury convicted a California man Thursday for sending threatening emails to the FBI, including ones in which he threatened to bomb the FBI Los Angeles Field Office and referenced the notorious “Unabomber.”
Mark William Anten, 52, of Sun Valley, was found guilty of two counts of threats by interstate communication. He has been in federal custody since December 2023.
According to evidence presented at a three-day trial, from July 2023 to December 2023, Anten sent a series of increasingly threatening communications to the FBI, culminating in two threats to bomb the FBI field office in Westwood.
“This verdict should make clear that the Justice Department has no tolerance for threats of violence against the FBI,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The men and women of the FBI are courageous public servants who do their work with integrity and skill, and we will stop at nothing to hold accountable those who threaten them with violence.”
“Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line to keep our community safe and therefore deserve our thanks and respect,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. “Those who threaten the FBI and other law enforcement officers ignore the daily sacrifices these officers make to protect us and undermine the rule of law. We will continue to stand with our law enforcement partners.”
These emails included repeated references to Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as “The Unabomber,” whose 20-year bombing campaign killed three people and injured nearly two dozen more. Kaczynski was convicted of federal crimes, spent the bulk of his prison sentence in the Supermax federal prison in Colorado, and died in a different federal prison last year.
On Nov. 20, 2023, two FBI task force officers interviewed Anten in front of his residence. During the interview, Anten admitted to sending the previous communications and the officers admonished him to stop contacting agents, the affidavit states. Despite the admonition, Anten’s conduct escalated.
On Dec. 5, 2023, Anten sent FBI agents an email in which he wrote, “I AM THE UNABOMBER” and “I WILL UNABOMB THE LOS ANGELES FBI HQ.”
The next day, Anten wrote to FBI agents, “I can go on a mass murder spree. It would be very explainable by your actions.” He concluded the email with, “[y]ou ain’t getting away with this one,” and signed the email, “SuperMax or Death.”
Anten also sent FBI agents an email, which attached a photograph depicting the results of an internet search for “how to make a dirty bomb.”
Later that day, Anten visited the FBI Los Angeles Field Office and later emailed agents that he visited their building and would continue to do so. Surveillance footage confirmed Anten’s presence there.
Anten was convicted of two counts of threats by interstate communication. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 13 and faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI is investigating the case.
