UPDATE: Suspects For Envelopes With Suspicious White Powder Sent to Republican Legislators?

WLTReport reported last weekend that more than 30 letters containing white powder were sent to Republican representatives and senators in Kansas.

At the time of writing, no one was harmed by the suspicious powder and the powder underwent testing in a lab to determine if it’s harmful.

BREAKING: More than 30 letters containing suspicious white powder sent to lawmakers and other officials across Kansas. FBI investigating pic.twitter.com/5p0HDcUWVn

— BNO News (@BNONews) June 16, 2023

From The Kansas Reflector:

Federal and state law enforcement and health officials are investigating letters containing suspicious white powder that were sent to legislators and state agencies.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation confirmed a multi-agency response Friday after more than 30 of the letters were reported across the state. No injuries have been reported in connection with the letters, the agency said.

The Kansas City Star and Topeka Capital-Journal reported that Republicans in the Kansas House and Senate had received the letters. Spokeswomen for the House and Senate Democrats told Kansas Reflector they weren’t aware of any Democrats who had received a letter.

Tom Day, director of legislative administrative services, alerted lawmakers to the potential threat in an email Friday. Day said the letters were being received by legislators at their homes, and one was delivered to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office. The letters, which have a return address of Topeka or Kansas City, were turned over to the KBI and Federal Bureau of Investigation, Day said.

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“Please be diligent and cautious when receiving mail from unknown individuals,” Day wrote in the email.

A spokeswoman for the KBI didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry asking if the letters were only sent to Republicans, when the first letter was discovered, or how long it would take to identify the powder.

As of Sunday night, approximately 100 letters containing suspicious white power have been received across the state of Kansas.

Per the Kansas Bureau of Investigation:

The KBI and the FBI, with assistance from KDHE and other partners, updated findings on the white powder found in letters sent to Kansas legislators and public officials.

As of Sunday June 18, approximately 100 letters containing suspicious white powder have been received across the state of Kansas. A small sample of the letters containing powder was sent to a laboratory that specializes in testing biological samples.

Preliminary tests have returned from this lab indicating the substance is presumptively negative for common biological agents of concern. Further and more complete testing will be conducted on this sample, as well as on additional letters that have been collected, in an effort to determine the components of the substance.

AP reported on the update:

About 100 letters containing suspicious white powder have been sent to lawmakers and other public officials across Kansas, officials said.

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No injuries have been reported, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. It had counted more than 30 letters as of late Friday afternoon and increased the tally to 100 as of Sunday.

In a Facebook post Sunday, the bureau said preliminary tests on the substance were negative for common dangerous toxins.

In emails sent to legislators and obtained by The Topeka Capital-Journal, Tom Day, director of Legislative Administrative Services, said the Kansas Highway Patrol had informed his office of the letters, which contain a return address of either Kansas City or Topeka.

The letters were sent to legislators at their homes and have been turned over to the KBI and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Day wrote.

President Trump and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly also received envelopes containing suspicious white powder.

Some of the letters with a 'suspicious, powdery substance' went to figures such as Clarence Thomas and former President Donald Trump. https://t.co/FU9aLD7VMt

— WHAS11 News (@WHAS11) June 20, 2023

News Busters reports:

After outrageously ignoring the initial story during their flagship morning shows, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News refused to update viewers on a new revelation in the incident involving white powder being sent in envelopes to members of the Kansas Republican Party which is that they were also sent to former President Trump and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Much like they did during their morning show Good Morning America, ABC’s World News Tonight kept up with the politically motivated attack on Kansas Republican lawmakers.

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cont.

“Envelopes containing a suspicious powdery substance were discovered in the mailboxes of a few dozen Kansas lawmakers. But tonight the list of intended recipients is growing,” ABC News investigative reporter Aaron Katersky revealed.

“More than 100 Kansas officials have now received letters and federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News letters were also addressed to former President Trump, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and other high-profile individuals, though we’re told the postal inspectors intercepted those letters before they were delivered,” he added.

UPDATE

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According to The Kansas City Star, the FBI said Tuesday that “letters containing a suspicious white powder sent to dozens of Kansas legislators and officials don’t pose a risk to public safety.”

Law enforcement agencies continue searching for the source and motive behind the threatening messages.

From The Kansas City Star:

While lab tests have shown no risk to public safety at the current time, more tests “will be needed to fully characterize the material in the letters,” the FBI said in a statement. Law enforcement officials are working to determine how many letters were sent, “the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters.”

At least some of the letters were in envelopes with the names of transgender individuals who were killed or are prominent on the return address field, according to interviews with legislators and images posted online. The return addresses on the envelopes were in some instances churches in the area of the recipient, which some legislators suggested made them more likely to open the mail.

“Time and effort was put into this,” said state Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican who received a letter at her home.

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Baumgardner said the ordeal has taken a toll on the spouses and children of lawmakers. For at least some recipients, the letters triggered hazmat responses, upending their lives for several hours.

“I think it does give individuals pause simply because whatever individual or group decided to pursue this, the intention was to be threatening,” Baumgardner said. “The intention was to create a threat.”

Lawmakers have been reluctant to speculate about possible motives, citing the ongoing investigation. The FBI didn’t suggest a motive on Tuesday, and previous statements by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation have also not mentioned any potential motivation.

Kansas’ Republican-controlled legislature this spring banned biological males from competing in female sports.

AP reported:

Kansas is banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports from kindergarten through college, the first of several possible new laws restricting the rights of transgender people pushed through by Republican legislators over the wishes of the Democratic governor.

State lawmakers successfully overruled Democrat Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of SB 180, otherwise known as a “women’s bill of rights.”

The Kansas Reflector explained:

Senators successfully overturned Kelly’s veto of Senate Bill 180 Wednesday, voting 28-12 to pass the bill back to the House for a final vote. To override Kelly’s veto, 84 votes are needed in the House and 27 in the Senate.

The legislation bans individuals who are born without the ability to produce eggs for reproduction from using women’s restrooms, locker rooms and other gender-specific areas.

The bill applies to athletics, prison facilities, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, locker rooms, restrooms and “other areas where biology, safety or privacy are implicated that result in separate accommodations.”

The bill also classifies people with developmental differences, including those who are intersex, as disabled. These people would be barred from women’s spaces and given separate facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The House originally voted 83-41 for the legislation, with the Senate concurring 28-12 to move the bill to Kelly’s desk. Kelly vetoed SB 180 Thursday along with several other bills targeting transgender Kansans, citing concerns about its broad scope.

Although authorities have not identified suspects or a motive, there is speculation that transgender activists may be behind the letters.

Infowars noted:

As if aware their supporters could be behind the letters, The Progressive Caucus, LGBTQ+ Caucus and the Kansas Young Democrats issued a joint statement condemning the acts, saying, “Whether the powder contains an actually threatening substance or is intended as a threat and contains a benign substance, this behavior is unacceptable and is horrific.”

Despite the obvious clues, the KBI and the Federal Bureau of Investigations have not named a motive or identified any suspects.

However, the letters come as Kansas’ Republican-dominated legislature recently passed sweeping transgender bathroom legislation banning “transgenders” from accessing bathrooms, locker rooms, prisons, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers that don’t coincide with their birth gender.

Kansas House and Senate Republicans also released a statement saying although it’s unclear who’s behind the letters they would not be intimidated by extremists.