The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) denied involvement in suspicious letters containing white powder sent to dozens of political offices across the country, after Democratic Representative Hillary Scholten of Michigan said a threatening letter delivered to her office claimed to come from the organization and warned of an impending “civil war” after the midterms. The organization condemned threats and violence against political leaders and said it planned to cooperate with the investigation into the letters. The investigation involves the FBI, U.S.
Postal Inspection Service and U.S. The FBI has said it and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the federal law-enforcement agency responsible for protecting the mail, are investigating “a series of suspicious mailings” sent to addresses nationwide, including secretary of state offices and related election offices.
"Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident. We are also working with our partners to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters. Postal Inspection Service will continue to safeguard the public and secure elections for American citizens," according to an FBI statement provided to Newsweek.
Newsweek reached out to the DSA for comment via email on Sunday afternoon. Scholten said Friday that her Grand Rapids office received a threatening letter containing unidentified white powder. According to a news release from Scholten’s office, the letter purported to be from DSA and made a “direct and specific reference” to an impending “civil war” beginning after the midterm election.
She called on DSA to condemn the threats made in its name and deny responsibility if it was not involved. The DSA also said that it had not occupied offices that was written on the letter's return address since 2013. Election offices in at least 15 states said they had received suspicious packages, NBC News reported.
They are Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin. There have also been reports of suspicious mail involving congressional offices or other officials in Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia, as of 8 p.m. Several senators' offices were reported as targets, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senators Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Alex Padilla of California, according to The Washington Post.
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