UNDER THREAT

Houston Chronicle Sent Staffers Home for a Day Amid Mass Shooting Scare

In this week’s edition of Confider, we reveal how the Texas newspaper received a seriously violent threat last month and sent home its employees as a result.

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This reporting is one of several scoops featured in this week’s edition of Confider, the newsletter pulling back the curtain on the media. Subscribe here and send your questions, tips, and complaints here.

The Houston Chronicle suffered a serious scare last month when it told its entire staff to leave its offices after a suspect with a repeated history of threatening mass shootings emailed such a threat to staffers, according to an affidavit filed with the U.S. Southern District of Texas and reviewed on Monday by Confider. Employees at the Chronicle received an email on Jan. 22 from a man identified as Jeremy James Joseph, who allegedly wrote that he would “kill you all while you slave away on a Monday” using his multiple “guns” and “pipe bombs.” He allegedly added: “It’s not justice. It’s desire.” As a result, according to the affidavit, the newspaper sent its employees home for the day. Joseph allegedly sent similar threats last month to CNN, the Dallas Morning News, and ABC13 Houston, among other people and organizations. The affidavit does not state whether those news operations took any safety precautions. The Chronicle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Justin Rohrlich contributed reporting.

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