Suspicious Envelope Reaches Rep. Gillen's Office

A suspicious envelope reached the office of Rep. Laura Gillen, whose district is in Nassau County, on Friday, Oct. 16, the same day a letter containing white powder was opened at Rep. Ritchie Torres' Bronx office, as federal authorities investigate a wave of letters sent to elected officials and election offices across the country.

"Today, my office received a suspicious envelope, similar to those sent to other congressional offices," Gillen, who represents New York's 4th Congressional District, said in a statement Friday. "My staff and I are safe, and law enforcement was notified and intervened right away. Thank you to our law enforcement for their rapid response and commitment to our safety everyday."

"There is no excuse for acts of violence or intimidation against elected officials in our country," she said. "We have to lower the temperature and rise above the hatred, vitriol and extremism that is seeping into our politics. It prevents us from solving the biggest issues affecting all Americans, regardless of party." She said her office would continue to serve Nassau County families "and not allow this threat to get in the way of that work."

In the Bronx, an envelope containing a white powder was opened at Rep. Ritchie Torres' district office at 540 East Fordham Road shortly after 1 p.m. Friday, police and fire officials said. The FDNY sent hazardous materials units, and the NYPD set up a perimeter. Six people were exposed to the powder, police said; none showed symptoms, and all declined medical treatment. The FDNY determined the substance was not hazardous, and no one was hurt.

"Earlier today, my Congressional Office received an envelope containing a suspicious substance," Torres wrote on X. "My team immediately notified the FBI, NYPD, and FDNY, all of which responded promptly. The FDNY tested the substance and determined that it was non-hazardous. We have since turned over the envelope to the FBI, and an investigation is ongoing."

"We are living in a time when threats against elected officials and their staff have become the new normal," Torres wrote. "Although my team is understandably shaken by the incident, we will not be deterred from serving the people of NY-15 in the Bronx."

The FBI said on Thursday, Oct. 15, a day before the letters to Gillen and Torres arrived, that it was working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on a national investigation. "The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices," the bureau's National Press Office said. "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." The bureau has not said whether the letters to Gillen's and Torres' offices are part of that investigation.

The Friday letters follow the interception on Thursday, Oct. 15, of a suspicious piece of mail addressed to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's New York City office, which Gillibrand said was stopped by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

State election officials have described what they have found so far. Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas's office said on Saturday, Oct. 17, that some of the letters contained a powdery substance, "although preliminary testing of substances recovered in several states has found no hazardous materials." The office said the FBI had notified it that it was the intended target of one of the mailings, which federal authorities intercepted. "I'm relieved that the substances tested so far have not been hazardous, but these incidents are still deplorable," Thomas said.

In Delaware, an employee in the State Election Commissioner's Office in Dover opened an envelope containing a white powdery substance at about 2 p.m. on Oct. 15, the state Department of Elections said. The FBI has taken over that investigation, and the Postal Inspection Service is testing the envelope and its contents, the department said on Oct. 16.

The Oklahoma State Election Board evacuated its office on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 13, after receiving an envelope with suspicious white powder. "Thankfully, no one from the State Election Board staff was harmed as a result of this incident," said board Secretary Paul Ziriax.

The mailings come less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 general election.