Arrest In Bomb Threat At Florida Capitol, Only A Few Trump Supporters Showed Up On Inauguration Day

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - After preparation for potentially large-scale protests, law enforcement only had to deal with a bomb threat and about 10 supporters of President Donald Trump who waved signs at drivers outside Florida's Capitol on Wednesday.

Overnight the Capitol building was shut down "out of an abundance of caution" after a bomb threat was received around 3 a.m. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said the Capitol complex was swept by law enforcement officers and explosive-detecting K-9s. The agency tweeted that nothing suspicious was found.

Tallahassee police said they arrested Mark Wayne Clark, 61, for making a false bomb threat against state property. Authorities said he was taken into custody at a bar about 3 miles from the Capitol.

Officers were dispatched to the bar after receiving a call from an employee who told authorities that a man clad in camouflage had talked about planting a bomb at the Capitol, which was supposed to go off at 8 a.m.

Earlier on Wednesday law-enforcement officers were visible atop the Florida Capitol and the nearby Leon County Courthouse, as a handful of Trump backers maintained their unsubstantiated belief about election fraud in the 2020 election as motorists occasionally honked in agreement or shouted disparaging remarks.

"We just feel there were a lot of improprieties during the election. We just don't feel like our votes were heard," said Earl Austin, who drove from Jacksonville with his wife, Suzanne, to hold signs outside the Capitol. "We just feel like, right now, we know it's over probably, but it's so these things do not occur ever again."

Nearby a woman, clad in a red "MAGA" cap and a face mask featuring the word "Trump," declined to discuss what drew her to the state Capitol, while she held a couple of signs, one stating: "Thank You, President Trump! The World needed you."

Members of the media dominated the scene along Monroe Street.

On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis activated the Florida National Guard to assist state and local law enforcement following an FBI warning of potential violent protests in state capitals in the wake of the Jan. 6 attempted pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

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