T.J. Miller arrested, accused of calling in fake bomb threat
Comedian and former Silicon Valley star T.J. Miller was arrested for calling 911 and reporting a fake bomb threat back on March 18 while riding an Amtrak train, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The actor was later apprehended at LaGuardia Airport on Monday, April 9. According to a press release from the US District Attorney of Connecticut, the criminal complaint describes how Miller called New Jersey authorities to claim that a female passenger had "a bomb in her bag." He also claimed the woman kept suspiciously checking her bag and asking when the next stop was.
The train was stopped in Connecticut, detrained, but no evidence of explosives were found by the bomb squad.
The press release further details that the officer involved, "detected slurring in Miller's voice and asked if he had consumed alcohol that day." But Miller insisted had only consumed "one glass of wine that day."
The officer proceeded to ask if Miller suffered from mental illness, to which he responded, "No, absolutely not. This is the first time I’ve ever made a call like this before. I am worried for everyone on that train. Someone has to check that lady out."
Amtrak investigators even interviewed an attendant from Miller's First Class train car, and he stated that Miller was already intoxicated when he boarded the train, consumed multiple more drinks during the ride, and was removed from the train in New York due to intoxication. The attendant also cited "hostile exchanges" between Miller and a woman in the same First Class car.
On Tuesday, April 10, Miller appeared before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in Connecticut, where he was released on a $100,000 bail. The maximum sentence for this offense is five years of imprisonment.
Currently, there are several authorities looking into the incident, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Connecticut State Police Department, the MTA Police Department, Amtrak Police and Westport Police.
Update 4/10 1:55 pm ET: This post has been updated throughout
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
