


Authorities have arrested a Minnesota lobbyist suspected of sending a text message that included a “threat of violence” at the state Capitol, Minnesota House Republicans said Thursday.
Jonathan Michael Bohn, 41, of Woodbury, remained in custody at the Carver County Jail in Chaska Thursday night awaiting a court hearing for a pending threats of violence charge, according to Sgt. Chris Nelson with the Carver County Sheriff’s Office.Rep. Jim Nash, a Waconia Republican, reported the threatening text to law enforcement on Wednesday, confirmed that Bohn is a lobbyist with the Inter Faculty Organization, a union representing faculty at Minnesota state universities.
The organization didn’t immediately respond to a phone call late Thursday.
Nash notified the House sergeant at arms, State Patrol and Carver County Sheriff’s Office of a “personal text message to a constituent that was threatening in nature,” the Minnesota House GOP Caucus said in a news release.
“The threat was not aimed at any particular lawmaker but the message did include a threat of violence at the Capitol,” House Republicans said. The news release didn’t identify the suspect but said authorities questioned and arrested the person on Wednesday.
Republicans said the House sergeant at arms is not aware of any further threats to the Legislature or its staff.
Nelson said more details on the case would come in a Friday news release from his agency.
Bohn’s arrest comes less than a week after a shooting spree that took the lives of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and her husband, Mark, and injured Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, and his wife, Yvette.
The alleged gunman visited the homes of two additional lawmakers that same night and had notebooks naming dozens more targets, federal prosecutors said this week.
It’s led to a heightened level of caution among state leaders.
“I did what any leader would do to make sure people were kept safe,” Nash told the Pioneer Press.
The Minnesota Legislature has taken additional steps to protect members of the House and Senate since the shooting. More could be in the offing.
Lawmakers’ home addresses have already been removed from the Minnesota Legislature’s website, and the Capitol saw a larger security presence than usual this week.
Elected officials have again called for new security measures at the state Capitol, such as entry checkpoints with metal detectors and X-ray machines.
The Legislature has debated those changes for years with little progress.