BAXTER COUNTY, Ark. (KFSM) — The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a rural Mountain Home man for making threatening phone calls to CNN’s headquarters.
Benjamin Matthews, 39, is being charged with five counts of terroristic threatening in the first degree, four counts of terroristic threatening in the second degree, and nine counts of harassing communications based upon a complaint received by the Atlanta, Georgia, Police Department, according to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
Matthews was arrested Tuesday (Nov. 6) after threatening CNN staff over the phone between October 31 and November 2. The content of the calls ranged from general harassment, the threat of bodily injury and calls threatening the life of a CNN journalist, John F. Montgomery with the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office said.
An arrest report states Matthews made more than 40 calls to CNN’s headquarters.
Further investigation showed Matthews had made other threatening phone calls to another television network, as well as to various public officials and organizations, according to an arrest report.
Matthews is being held at the Baxter County Detention Center with a bond set at $15,000.
