(UnitedVoice.com) – States held elections on November 7, to fill various seats across the country. In five of those states, election offices received suspicious packages. Officials now say some of them contained a dangerous substance.
The FBI is investigating suspicious packages mailed to election offices in Georgia, Washington (state), California, Oregon, and Nevada. The federal agency confirmed it was looking into the matter. Authorities were able to intercept some of the letters before they made it to their final destination.
The Associated Press reported the US Postal Inspection Service and FBI released a joint statement saying that law enforcement officials were working “to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered.” At least four of the letters contained fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is 100 times more powerful than morphine.
The Pierce County auditor’s office and King County Elections in Washington released images of the letters sent to their offices. In Pierce County, the letter that accompanied the white powder stated, “END ELECTIONS NOW” and “STOP GIVING POWER TO THE RIGHT THAT THEY DON’T HAVE.” In King County, the accompanying letter stated, “NO MORE ELECTIONS!!!!!” That one also proclaimed the US is a “communist country now.”
It’s hard not to remember the anthrax attacks at a time like this. Days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when the dust had not even settled at Ground Zero and the Pentagon, Americans began receiving envelopes in the mail that contained a white substance. The powder was a deadly chemical called anthrax. The attacks killed five and injured 17. It became known as one of the worst biological attacks in American history.
The letters sent to the election offices are particularly concerning, considering the divisions in the US ahead of the 2024 presidential election and the animosity surrounding the last general election. Fortunately, nobody suffered any injuries from the powder this time around.
King County Elections Director Julie Wise told The Associated Press the actions of the unknown individual(s) weren’t going to cause their elections “to be paused or impacted” or “break” them.
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