On February 11th, 18-year-old Alan W. Filion from Lancaster, California, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for interstate threats to harm others, spreading false bomb threats, and making false reports to law enforcement.
According to the plea agreement, from around August 2022 to January 2024, Filion made over 375 harassing and threatening phone calls, claiming to have placed bombs at “target locations,” threatening to detonate bombs, and stating plans for large-scale shootings in certain areas. The targets of Filion’s threats included religious institutions, high schools, universities, government officials, and many individuals across various states in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated in a press release that Filion made these threatening calls with the intention of prompting law enforcement and emergency response teams to deploy extensively to the so-called “target locations.” During these calls, Filion would purposely provide false information to law enforcement or targeted groups, including using fake names, falsely claiming to have placed explosives at specific locations, possessing dangerous weapons, and even claiming to be involved in violent crimes with associates.
In some instances, law enforcement responding to these false reports would swiftly arrive at the locations Filion had falsely identified, armed and prepared to enter buildings at the “target locations”; to ensure safety, individuals inside these buildings would be detained.
Furthermore, Filion’s harassing and threatening phone calls disrupted law enforcement’s ability to handle genuine emergencies.
The Department of Justice stated that Filion engaged in this series of crimes for financial gain and entertainment purposes. In an online post on January 19, 2023, Filion claimed that his criminal activities began “two to three years ago,” and that “approximately 6-9 months ago, (he) decided to turn this into a business.” Filion repeatedly promoted his services and the details of his “crime fees” on social media.
Filion was arrested in California on January 18, 2024, mainly due to his threats to a religious institution in Sanford, Florida in May 2023. During this incident, Filion claimed to possess illegally modified AR-15 rifles, Glock 17 pistols, pipe bombs, and homemade Molotov cocktails.
He declared intentions to carry out a “mass shooting” and to “kill” everyone he encountered. Filion admitted to his threatening behavior in federal court.
Filion also admitted to making three other threatening phone calls: In October 2022, he called a public high school in the western district of Washington state, threatening a large-scale shooting and claiming to have placed bombs throughout the school. In May 2023, he phoned a historic African-American university in Florida, claiming to have placed bombs on the walls and ceilings of the campus dormitories, set to detonate about an hour later. In July of the same year, he called a local police department in the western district of Texas, falsely representing himself as a senior federal law enforcement officer, providing an address; he claimed to have killed his mother and threatened to kill any responding officers in the case.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service conducted an investigation into the case, with assistance from the California Department of Justice, as well as law enforcement agencies in Florida, Washington state, and Los Angeles County.