Georgia woman faces federal charges after bomb threat against Democratic Party headquarters

On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that a woman from northeast Georgia has been indicted by a federal grand jury over an alleged bomb threat against the headquarters for the Democratic Party of Athens-Clarke County

"Jessica Diane Higginbotham aka Jessica Harriod, 35, of Elberton, is charged with one count of communicating a bomb threat and one count of making false statements," said the DOJ in the press release. "If convicted of communicating a bomb threat, Higginbotham faces a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. If convicted of making false statements, she faces a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine."

"The indictment alleges that Higginbotham made a threat to bomb the Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee Campaign building in Athens, Georgia, on Dec. 3 and lied to federal agents on Dec. 4 about her knowledge of a specific email address and the use of the TextNow communication application on her Samsung cellphone, both of which belong to her," the statement continued.

So far this month, a number of high-profile political bomb threats have made national news.

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In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, police and federal agents opened an investigation after a bomb hoax was called into Mr. Fish, a local restaurant that was hosting a drag queen event. And this week, Tufts University in the Boston area was evacuated after an email manifesto was sent to the campus diversity department, alleging multiple bombs placed around the university in retaliation for their supposed "anti white propaganda."

While none of these incidents ultimately yielded actual explosives, some people who call in such threats eventually escalate to real violence; the alleged shooter behind the Club Q massacre in Colorado Springs ended up on law enforcement radars after making a bomb threat against their own family.