Sept. 17 (UPI) — On Monday, letters with threats and packages of non-toxic powders were sent to seven state offices. This led to government investigations.
Letters with powder packages were opened and found to not contain any dangerous materials. However, the FBI is telling state election officials and others to be careful with letters and packages that seem odd that may arrive at their offices.
Government officials from the FBI said in a prepared statement that they are “working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, who sent them, and what their purpose was.”
The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service sent out a joint memo on Monday saying that they are “working diligently to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered.”
“The election community should remain vigilant and exercise caution when handling the mail,” the joint note says. “All suspicious substances should be treated as potentially hazardous and must be handled in accordance with established safety protocols.”
In Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wyoming, the letters were sent to the offices of the secretaries of state, state voting offices, and attorneys general on Monday.
The FBI said that the return addresses on each letter show that they were sent by the U.S. Traitor Elimination Army, which is written as “U.S.T.E.A.”
Two of the suspicious items were sent to a government building in Topeka, Kansas. At 2:17 p.m. CDT on Monday, the building had to be evacuated because of this.
The offices of the Kansas Attorney General and the Kansas Secretary of State were both sent a package. Both offices are in the same building.
A number of office workers in both units were exposed to the powdery substances and were medically monitored until police decided the substances weren’t dangerous.
In Des Moines, Iowa, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, state government buildings had to be removed until the substances were found.
Oklahoma police found that a powdery material that was sent there was flour.