The federal courthouse in Raleigh was back in business Wednesday morning after an evacuation that lasted about an hour, but some scheduled hearings will be delayed.
Authorities said that there was a bomb threat against the building on New Bern Avenue around 9:45 a.m. For about an hour, law enforcement vehicles surrounded the building and officers searched inside. By 10:15 a.m. they had issued the all clear.
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No further information about the nature of the threat was available.
Among the hearings scheduled Wednesday that will be delayed was a court appearance for Eric Byrd, a man arrested last week on a charge of communicating threats, whom the FBI described as someone who posed a threat of mass violence.
Raleigh police and the FBI filed an involuntary commitment request for Byrd, detaining him on March 9. According to charging documents, Byrd had an obsession with mass shooters and sought to follow in their footsteps. He commonly posted photos of himself holding guns and used pro-Nazi and white supremacist messaging in his content, notably saying, "I love death and destruction. I hope much more comes."
A court document said that Byrd "utilized Instagram to post Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism, expressing an intent to harm others (Black people, Hispanics, and homosexuals) and himself."
