Provo man charged with threat of terrorism after allegedly threatening to blow up Missionary Training Center
Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
PROVO, Utah (ABC4) — A Provo man who allegedly threatened to blow up the Missionary Training Center was charged Tuesday with threat of terrorism.
Anthony
Hambleton Beardall, 49, was charged with one count of threat of
terrorism, a second degree felony, and one count of electronic
communication harassment, a misdemeanor.
On April 24, 2024,
Beardall allegedly called the BYU information center and threatened to
blow up the Missionary Training Center.
According to court
documents, he told the person on the phone, “You better shut down the
[Missionary Training Center], or we’re going to blow [it] out of the
water, baby.”
In
that call, he also allegedly stated, “Jesus Christ never rose from the
grave, ok? It’s a lie,” and told the operator, and presumably the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, to stop pushing their beliefs on
the world.
Additionally, Beardall allegedly claimed that the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints would be “shut down in
Israel pretty soon,” and that the Church could no longer send out
missionaries in the United States.
Police said he called the
information line at least 10 times that day, repeating that the MTC
needed to be shut down and calling phone operators “profane and
offensive names.”
According to court records, Beardall has a history of being charged with stalking, violating a protective order, and harassment.
