Comic claimed a passenger had explosives in her bag

Silicon Valley star TJ Miller has been charged for deliberately reporting a fake bomb threat on a train.

The American actor and comedian is said to have called police from the train to report a female passenger with ‘a bomb in her bag’

Miller was arrested at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Monday and after appearing in court was released on a $100,000 bond.  The charge carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.

The allegation is that on March 18, Miller called police on the 911 emergency number to say he was on an Amtrak train from Washington, DC, to New York and that a female passenger with brown hair and a scarf  had a bomb.

The train was brought a stop in Connecticut, which is beyond New York, and evacuated while  bomb squad members conducted a search, but found nothing.

An investor then called Miller who this time describe the woman as having red hair and a red scarf and carrying a ‘black bag carry-on suitcase with a handle.’

  He said she kept checking her bag without taking anything out; kept asking the attendant what the next stop was, and seemed to want to get off the train and leave her bag behind.  

The officer said he detected slurring in Miler’s voice and asked if he had consumed alcohol that day.  The comic, 36, replied that he had drunk one glass of red wine, and added: ‘This is the first time I’ve ever made a call like this. I am worried for everyone on that train. Someone has to check that lady out.’

He is also said to have given details of the wrong journey, and was actually on a different train.That too was stopped and searched, with no evidence of a bomb found.

According to a statement issued by the US Attorney’s Office in Connecticut, an attendant reported that  Miller ‘appeared intoxicated upon boarding in Washington, that he consumed multiple drinks on the train, and that he had been removed in New York owing to his intoxication.’  

‘The attendant also advised that Miller had been involved in hostile exchanges with a woman who was sitting in a different row from him in the First Class car,’ the statement adds. Investigators are said to have found that woman and determined she was not carrying explosives.

The complaint alleges that Miller was motivated by a grudge against her when he called 911.

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, stressed that a charge is based only on  allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, as well as local and Amtrack police.

Published: 11 Apr 2018