GREAT FALLS – A Minnesota man charged with making a threat that led to the evacuation of an Amtrak train in northern Montana pleaded not guilty to federal charges of false information and hoaxes.
The U.S. attorney’s office says 24-year-old Hussein Abdi Hassan of Minneapolis was arraigned by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Holter in Great Falls on Thursday.
An Amtrak spokesman has said Hassan was removed from the Empire Builder train in Browning on Feb. 14 for being unruly. Marc Magliari says Hassan then “somehow threatened the safety of the train.”
The train was stopped between Browning and East Glacier and its 150 passengers were evacuated while the train was checked for explosives. None were found. The train was delayed for 11 hours, which also stopped freight traffic on the line.