Apparently someone wants to start 2024 by bringing the work at a half dozen or so state capitol complexes to a halt. So far today, false bomb threats have been called in to police in Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Montana. While there’s very little information so far, it is hard to believe that six or seven separate perpetrators all decided to call in fake bomb threats the same morning.

Calling in a false bomb threat is wrong. The perpetrators should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Why, calling in a false bomb threat is comparable to pulling a fire alarm to prevent the U.S. House of Representatives from voting. Of course, New York Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman did this and merely paid a $1,000 fine and is serving three months of probation, although he was also censured by the House on a mostly party-line vote. Bowman, who used to be a principal of a middle school, claimed he didn’t understand how fire alarms worked and accidentally pulled the alarm, and that he did not obstruct or intend to obstruct any House vote or proceedings. Keep in mind, surveillance video shows Bowman attempting to open the fire door, knocking over one of the warning signs, pulling the alarm, and not even attempting to open the door.

When there are such minimal consequences to using a false declaration of emergency to disrupt the work of a legislature, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised to see more of it.