The Wyoming Secretary of State's Office was among those targeted by a rash of suspicious letters nationwide, authorities confirmed Thursday.
The information is a patchwork so far.
One letter arrived at the Wyoming Capitol, but it didn’t make it past the mail room, said Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) public information officer Aaron Brown in a Thursday phone interview.
Brown said the letter, which staffers discovered Thursday morning, could be described as “threatening,” but it did not contain white powder as some around the nation did. He said the patrol – which runs Capitol security – as well as the FBI and the Cheyenne Police Department responded to the discovery.
But there's no threat to the public. There’s nothing to it really,” said Brown, who later added that he’d heard from the FBI the letters were a “hoax.”
The Capitol was not evacuated, said Brown.
Secretary of State Chuck Gray confirmed to Cowboy State Daily the letter was targeting his office.
FBI Responds
The FBI was reticent in a Thursday email.
Public-affairs officer Vikki Migoya said the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, “including Secretary of State officers and their related election offices.”
Migoya wrote that the FBI is working with others to identify whoever may be responsible for the letters, and the FBI and USPIS “will continue to safeguard the public and secure elections for American citizens.”
The Associated Press reported that mailed packages containing a powdery substance prompted evacuations this week in Louisiana and Oklahoma election offices.
Maryland, Mississippi and South Dakota officials on Thursday also said their election offices were targeted, but the Postal Service intercepted the mailings.
The general election is fewer than three weeks away, on Nov. 3.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
