A New Hampshire man accused of making a bomb threat to Harvard University in April is scheduled to appear in Boston federal court Friday where a judge will decide if he is to remain jailed while his case plays out.
Court records show William Giordani made an initial appearance in federal court Tuesday after FBI agents arrested him in Nashua, New Hampshire. He is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Paul Levenson at 12 p.m. Friday for a detention hearing.
Harvard University cops said they received a call on April 13 from a person who appeared to be using software to disguise his voice. The caller said he had planted three bombs around Harvard’s campus.
“You have roughly 97 minutes to satisfy our demands less the events of today become a blood and stain on your nation’s history and the history of Harvard University,” the caller said, according to court documents.
The department received another six calls regarding the bomb threats and demand for payment, investigators said. During the fourth call, the person said one supposed bomb was located on the Science Center Plaza between two food trucks in a red and black tool bag.
Video footage of the plaza shows a man investigators believed to be Giordani leaving a red and black tool bag on the plaza roughly 10 minutes before the first phone call, court documents said.
Harvard police responded to the tool bag, cleared the area, and emptied nearby academic buildings, court documents said.
A Cambridge police bomb disposal unit showed up and used a “robotic device” to destroy the bag. Investigators said they found a metal locking safe — similar to those found in hotel rooms — a package of wires and fireworks inside the safe, and a small rectangular box with wires attached to it.
The package of wires had a yellow Home Depot sticker on it, bar code, and number for a store manager, which law enforcement used to track down Giordani, according to court documents.
The FBI asked Giordani to meet with them on April 27, but he never appeared.
When cops spoke with him on the phone, Giordani said “he was not comfortable meeting because he could not verify the fact that the officers were in fact who they said they were,” court documents said.
“Giordani suggested that officers speak with his mother … which they did” the next day, according to court documents. The mother agreed to bring Giordani to a New Hampshire office on May 1.
But Giordani never appeared, investigators said.
During a call that day with his mother, Giordani said he traveled to Harvard in response to a Craigslist ad that asked someone to deliver “some supplys [sic]” to Harvard for $300. Investigators said a phone number listed on the ad was associated with Giordani.
“Giordani also told [his mother] (while officers listened) that he spoke to the person who placed the Craigslist ad and that person told Giordani that he would be calling Harvard police to make a bomb threat to get money,” court documents said.
FBI agents traveled with Giordani’s mother to Nashua, New Hampshire where he was arrested “without incident,” according to court documents and an FBI spokesperson.
“Giordani was extremely displeased by [the mother’s] decision to bring officers with her to the meeting and berated her. Officers sought to calm Giordani, and then requested to speak with Giordani about the Craigslist ad and the events at Harvard,” court documents said.