Suspicious Mail Containing White Powder Delivered To Kari Lake’s Campaign Headquarters
The Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee's campaign headquarters received an envelope with "suspicious white powder" on Saturday.
According to CNN, a member of Kari Lake's campaign team in Phoenix noticed the white power after opening an envelope containing the substance.
A law enforcement official involved with the inquiry told CNN that items discovered during the probe would be sent to an Arizona laboratory for testing. However, according to the source, the FBI's Quantico laboratory has not received any proof.
Colton Duncan, a spokesman for Lake's campaign, texted CNN on Sunday morning to report that two envelopes had been seized by law enforcement and "sent to professionals at Quantico for investigation."
Later on Sunday, Lake told reporters that her campaign had been told the suspicious package was being sent to Quantico for analysis, but that "apparently there's a closer lab, and that's where they actually sent the substance, so we're going to find out what it was."
“When officers arrived, they learned there were suspicious items located inside the mail. Additional resources responded to collect the items and secure the area,” Sgt. Phil Krynsky told CNN. “There have been no reports of injury and the investigation remains active.”
CNN has contacted the Phoenix FBI office for comment.
When asked about the incident on Sunday, Lake's team stated they took the "threat incredibly seriously" and appreciated the investigation. According to Duncan, the employee is currently undergoing medical observation.
“In the meantime, know that our resolve has never been higher, and we cannot be intimidated. We continue to push full speed ahead to win this election on Tuesday,” Duncan said.
Arizona has become a flashpoint for extreme fury and threats against politicians and electoral officials. Politicians from both parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, have been targeted by such threats.
“We’re in dangerous times. This is not the first time we’ve been… threatened, I’ve been threatened many times,” Lake told reporters at a campaign event in Queen Creek.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this, I really don’t want to get too far ahead of it, I want investigators to look into it and I truly want to find the people who sent this because it’s wrong that this is happening.”
Arizona's current Secretary of State, Democrat Katie Hobbs, who is running against Lake, has called the incident "incredibly concerning".
“Political violence, threats, or intimidation have no place in our democracy,” Hobbs said in a statement. “I strongly condemn this threatening behavior directed at Lake and her staff.”
Hobbs’ campaign office was broken into late last month. While a suspect has been apprehended in that case, and police have reported that the same individual has broken into at least one other office in the area, the suspect was not linked by police to any particular political group or ideology.
Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly on Sunday called the incident “horrible.”
“There is no place in our democracy for stuff like that,” Kelly told CNN at a campaign event in Tucson. “But we don’t need to, anybody needs to be doing anything like that. It’s just wrong. And hopefully there’ll be an investigation and they’ll find who did it and they’ll arrest them and prosecute him.”
However, Arizona isn't the only place reeling out such stories. You may recall that last week, there was an attack on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's office in Auckland, after which the New Zealand police detained a female suspect.