AUSTIN — A man who threatened violence against Taylor Swift during her tour stop in Austin last month came close to the singer at the airport.
Frank Andrew Hoover, 39, of Austin, is accused of repeated violations of a protective order, a third-degree felony. He was arrested and booked into the Travis County Jail at 3 p.m. Thursday. Hoover’s bond has been set at $100,000.
On Oct. 22, Austin police officers were dispatched to Atlantic Aviation Fixed Base Operations, located at 4309 Emma Browning Ave., a private terminal adjacent to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Arriving officers were told that Hoover was inside trying to make contact with Taylor Swift. The singer had finished a concert at the Circuit of the Americas earlier that evening and arrived at the airport to board her private plane.
Swift was with her father and mother during the incident. A lifetime protective order was previously filed by Swift’s father for the family against Hoover in a Kansas court.
The order states Hoover is not allowed within 500 feet of the family and is forbidden from contacting them directly or indirectly. An officer spoke with a member of Swift’s security team who said when the performer’s motorcade arrived at the airport and was waiting for the gate to open onto the tarmac, the bodyguard saw a man pull into the parking lot.
According to a police affidavit, Hoover walked within 20-50 feet of the motorcade. When Swift made it safely in the plane, the bodyguard was contacted by an employee inside the airport who said a man was inside asking questions about Swift’s private plane and the questions seemed out of place.
The bodyguard went to ask Hoover what he was doing at the airport and found him staring out the window at Swift’s plane. Hoover allegedly said he was there to take a picture with the singer and possibly accompany her wherever she goes.
The affidavit states Hoover also sent Swift’s father around 30 emails between Aug. 28 to Oct. 27 that detailed his infatuation with his daughter and how he wanted to be with her. The affidavit continues, “Frank also wrote about random topics such as earthquakes, God, Satan’s lies, forgiveness, job opportunities and partnership.” Most of the emails had links of YouTube videos or pictures of the singer and her father attached to them.
In a Sept. 17, Frank emailed Swift’s father saying, “Without her, I walk the earth alone forever and she’ll continue to experience failed relationships that break her heart.” Police say the emails eventually escalated into threats of violence against Swift and her family.
The affidavit states Hoover lives on Boulder Lane in northwest Austin.
