Police vet Idaho election mail after threatening manifesto with ‘powdery’ substance
Idaho State Police has been opening mail sent to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office since September after the agency was sent a threatening manifesto. DARIN OSWALD doswald@idahostatesman.com
State police have been opening mail sent to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office since September after a threatening package containing a manifesto and white powder was mailed to the state’s election official.
The U.S. Postal Service intercepted the package before it made it to the Idaho Capitol, and it was taken to an Idaho State Police forensics laboratory for testing, Nicole Fitzgerald, chief deputy for the secretary of state, told the Idaho Statesman by phone Thursday. The FBI has been investigating the widespread incidents, which Fitzgerald said they determined at the time to be an “immediate threat.”
Idaho was one of at least 20 states where election administrators received similar suspicious packages that month, according to news reports. Similar packages were also sent to election officials in nearby Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.
Idaho State Police and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The package sent to Idaho included a manifesto related to the 2024 presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Fitzgerald said, and was mailed from Oklahoma with a return address to the “United States Traitor Elimination Army.” After testing, the “white powdery substance” found inside was determined to be harmless, she added.
Nothing in the package was specific to Idaho. It appeared to come from members of the “sovereign citizens” movement, a loose network of conspiracy theorists and anti-government activists, Fitzgerald said.
Idaho State Police officials suggested that they open and examine mail sent to Secretary of State Phil McGrane’s office as an added precaution, Fitzgerald said. State police plan to do so until the end of the year, out of concerns about further security risks following the presidential election, Fitzgerald said.
“We took them up on it to keep our employees safe,” she said. “We’ve appreciated them taking that on for us during this time.”
The mail inspections have caused mail delivery delays of up to four hours on busy days but have not caused service delays to citizens, she noted.
“It’s certainly worth the peace of mind for our employees,” she said.