Package addressed to secretary of state, containing white powder substance, under investigation

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice

A package containing white powder addressed to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office has been intercepted at a state mail facility.

The package included a return address of “U.S. Traitor Elimination Army.” Similar packages have been received by several secretaries of state, first reported Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office noted in a press release.

Investigations by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Colorado State Patrol preliminarily indicate the powder included in the package is harmless. Often, investigations of such packages are found to be gypsum, a harmless white mineral common to chalk, drywall and plaster.

“We cannot tolerate threats to election officials and public servants,” said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. “These threatening mailings are unacceptable and we must condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms.”

At least five state election offices received letters near election time last year containing powder laced with fentanyl, Griswold’s office noted in the press release. In the prior year, a Colorado county reported the return of a mail ballot containing a white powder substance that also was determined to be harmless.