Valley Man Guilty Of Threatening To Blow Up FBI Offices

LOS ANGELES, CA — A San Fernando Valley man who calls himself the 'Unabomber,' was convicted of threatening to blow up the FBI's Los Angeles office Wednesday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mark William Anten, 52, of Sun Valley, was convicted of two federal counts of threats by interstate communication. He has been in federal custody since December. Anten faces up to five years in federal prison for each count.

According to evidence presented at a three-day trial, from July 2023 to December 2023, Anten sent a series of increasingly threatening communications to the FBI, culminating in two threats to bomb the FBI field office in Westwood.

“Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line to keep our community safe and therefore deserve our thanks and respect,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “Those who threaten the FBI and other law enforcement officers ignore the daily sacrifices these officers make to protect us and undermine the rule of law. We will continue to stand with our law enforcement partners.”

“Even after being warned, Mr. Anten double-downed on his threats to murder FBI employees,” said Krysti Hawkins, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. “The FBI will not tolerate credible death threats to individuals or institutions and, as evidenced during the trial, neither did the jury.”

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, on Nov. 2, Anten emailed FBI agents saying he was voted most likely in his graduating class to become the next Unabomber, referening to Theodore Kaczynski, whose 20-year bombing campaign killed three people and injured nearly two dozen more. Kaczynski was convicted of federal crimes, spent the bulk of his prison sentence in the SuperMax federal prison in Colorado, and died in prison in June 2023.

In the email, Anten listed similarities between himself and Kaczynski, proclaimed that he was working on a manifesto, and signed his email "Unabomber."

On Nov. 20, two FBI agents interviewed Anten in front of his home. During the interview, Anten admitted to sending the previous communications and the officers warned him to stop contacting agents, according to prosecutors.

Still, Anten's conduct escalated, according to court records.

On Dec. 5, Anten sent a string of threatening emails to FBI agents, in which he threatened to "Unabomb" the FBI's Los Angeles office. On Dec. 6, Anten emailed, "I can go on a mass murder spree. In fact, it would be very explainable by your actions" and signed it, "SuperMax or Death."

Prosecutors said he also sent an email that included an image depicting the results of a Google internet search for "how to make a dirty bomb."

He followed up on Dec. 6, by visiting the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office and then emailed agents that he visited their building and would continue to do so.

Surveillance footage confirmed Anten's presence there, according to federal prosecutors.

He was quickly arrested, tried and convicted. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 13.