The FBI and the US Postal Service are investigating suspicious packages received by election officials in 17 states.
Federal investigators said they were collecting packages and that some contained an “unknown substance”, although there were no reports of injuries.
They are sent to secretaries of state and county election officials across the border from New York to Alaska.
It comes amid reports of increased threats against election officials across the US and warnings of political violence as November’s presidential election approaches.
The FBI and the US Postal Service say they are trying to determine how many letters were sent and who was after them, as well as their purpose.
“Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident and collect the letters safely,” said a statement to the BBC’s American partner CBS News.
The Associated Press news agency reported that packages were sent to election officials in Alaska, Georgia, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Rhode Island, Iowa, Mississippi, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold wrote in a post on X, previously on Twitter, that whoever sent the letters called themselves the “US Traitor Elimination Army”.
Officials in at least four states have said there is no threat posed by the items found in the packages. In Oklahoma, the Board of Elections said the substance was found to be flour.
In an interview with CBS, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, said her office was receiving threats every day via voicemails, emails, social media and in person, adding that it was “growing”.
This is not the first time suspicious mail has been sent to election offices in the US.
Last November, offices in Georgia, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington were sent envelopes containing fentanyl or other substances.
Federal investigators are separately questioning the gunman who was found hiding in bushes on a golf course in Florida where Trump was staying Sunday.
Source link
