The FBI and Postal Service have launched an investigation into suspicious mail that contained a white powder substance and was sent this week to at least 17 state election offices.
The mail was not deemed dangerous so far, and one of the substances found in the package was flour. However, some areas were evacuated because of the fear.
Election offices in New York, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Colorado received the suspicious packages. Similar suspicious mail was addressed to offices in additional states – Arizona, Georgia, Connecticut, Maryland, and Maine among them – but investigators intercepted them before they reached their destination.
The FBI and U.S. In a Tuesday statement, the Postal Inspection Service stated that it was investigating letters containing powdery white substances. According to a law enforcement source, at this time none of the packages are believed to be dangerous.
The statement stated, “We will also work with our partners to determine the number of letters sent, who is responsible for them, and what the motivation behind the letters was.”
A copy of a message sent to the members of the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center shows that at least some of these packages were signed by the “United States Traitor Elimination Army.”
Officials said that the Kansas and Wyoming election offices were evacuated Monday. The ventilation system at the Missouri Secretary of State’s Jefferson City office was also briefly turned off as a precaution. North Carolina Board of Elections received no packages containing white powder. However, an official stated that they were implementing new safety measures in light of incidents in other states.
The latest incident is the second in a year that suspicious mail containing white powdery substances was sent to electoral offices. In November last year, envelopes containing a white powdery substance were sent to election offices in five different states. Four of them tested positive for the drug fentanyl.
In recent months, several offices have begun to train their staff how to deal with poisonous materials sent through the mail. Election workers in Milwaukee, for instance, recently received Narcan training.
The National Association of Secretaries of State issued a statement calling for an end to “threatening and intimidating actions against election officials” in recent elections.
The statement stated: “This must end, immediately.” “Our democracy does not tolerate political violence, intimidation or threats of any kind.”
