GOP Lawmakers Receiving 'Suspicious White Powder' in the Mail - FBI Investigating
State and federal law enforcement are investigating after Kansas lawmakers received a series of letters containing a “‘suspicious’ white powder” this month.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation indicated that more than 70 letters containing the powder had been identified as of Saturday, according to The Kansas City Star.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said the number had risen to 100, but preliminary testing suggested the powder does not contain dangerous biological substances.
Several Republican lawmakers in the Kansas legislature have described receiving the letters.
Rep. Samantha Poetter Parshall said a letter sent to her contained threatening language, the City Star reported.
“Once I read something about ‘Choking on your ambitions,’ I realized there was another piece of paper folded up inside of it and put it back together.”
The Miami County lawmaker indicated that she had only heard of her Republican colleagues receiving the substance-laced letters.
“It’s possible there could be a Democrat who received once based on a voting record. But not knowing exactly what the details are, so far, I’ve only heard of Republicans receiving them.”
Rep. Tory Marie Blew shared pictures of a powder-laden letter that arrived at her residence in a Facebook post.
“This is not okay,” the post began.
The Barton County Republican thanked “the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Salina Fire Department, and the Bomb Squad from Fort Riley for your quick response and making sure we are all safe.”
“I don’t know all the details, but as of now only republicans legislators have received this package,” Blew concluded.
Three Kansas Democratic Party groups condemned the threatening acts in a Friday statement.
The Kansas Young Democrats, the Progressive Caucus, and the LGBTQ+ Caucus “harshly condemn the recent mailings containing a suspicious white powder that were received by Republican legislators to their homes and the Attorney General’s office,” the groups said in their statement, according to the Kansas City Star.
Terrorists have utilized the poisonous substance ricin to target government facilities and elected officials in the past. The manufactured toxin can take the form of a powder.
A foreign national plead guilty to mailing a letter laced with ricin to then-President Donald Trump earlier this year and was sentenced to 262 months in prison.
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