Blackwater Correctional inmate charged with sending bomb threats to federal agencies

The person allegedly behind bomb threats prompting evacuations last week of the Social Security Administration and U.S. Attorney's Office buildings in Pensacola was a 24-year-old man already incarcerated in Santa Rosa County.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court charged Noah D. Stirn, 24, with interstate threats involving explosives and mailing interstate threats to injure.

He was taken into federal custody Monday, according to the office of Lawrence Keefe, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Prior to Monday, Stirn was a prisoner at the Blackwater Correctional Facility, a private state prison in Milton, where he was incarcerated after being convicted of witness tampering, intimidating or forcing witness and grand theft of a motor vehicle, according to Keefe.

From the prison, Stirn allegedly sent a series of letters threatening to blow up multiple federal agencies.

More:Authorities investigate 2 bomb threats in 2 days in downtown Pensacola

Threatening letters were received by the U.S. District Court in Pensacola on May 8, the U.S. District Court in Miami on May 10, the Social Security Administration in Pensacola on May 14, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pensacola on May 15 and the Florida Department of State on May 17, according to the complaint.

The letter received by the U.S. District Court in Pensacola on May 8 said court judges had been followed home by gangsters who would kick in their home's doors and "viciously murder" them, according to the criminal compliant.

The May 8 letter went on to allege that a “Texter Unibox C4” bomb was timed to explode inside the courthouse unless $50,000 was wired to a specified bank account.

Other letters included threats such as the assassination of a magistrate judge, blowing up the Social Security Administration building and planting "a car bomb for the Secretary of State, which should be in place as you receive this letter," the compliant stated.

Stirn signed his signature to all of the letters, according to the criminal complaint. He included his date of birth on some letters, and on others, he added his Department of Corrections inmate number.

When FBI agents interviewed him May 17, Stirn admitted to authoring the letters and placing them in the prison's outgoing mail.

Stirn told the FBI that “he disagreed with various policies of the United States government and these letters were his attempt to change the policies of the United States," the criminal complaint stated.

“Stirn informed the FBI that he would not stop mailing letters of this nature,” the complaint said.

At Stirn's first appearance in federal court Monday afternoon, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Goldberg requested the court institute a policy that all outgoing, future letters written by Stirn receive review before they are mailed.

Stirn’s defense attorney objected, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Timothy said the court would take the matter into consideration.

Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.