Authorities on Sunday were investigating an envelope that reportedly contained a suspicious white powder that was opened at the Phoenix campaign headquarters of Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
Phoenix police, including a bomb squad and a hazmat team, as well as fire officials said they were called to the building around 2 a.m. and there were no reports of injuries or illness.
The incident calls to mind the 2001 anthrax attacks, when attackers sent letters containing anthrax spores mixed into a white powder. Among the recipients were Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of South Dakota and Tom Daschle of South Dakota, just a week after September 11, 2001.
It’s still unclear what was in the envelope at Lake’s office.
Lake’s campaign said the staff member who opened the envelope was under medical supervision.
“Just two days before Election Day, our campaign headquarters remains shut down. We look forward to law enforcement completing their investigation as quickly as possible,” Lake campaign spokesman Ross Trumble said in a statement. “In the meantime, know that our resolve has never been higher and we cannot be intimidated.”
Colleagues of both parties expressed well wishes for Lake and her staff.
Some observers called on Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to assign Lake a Department of Public Safety detail.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs said in a statement that the incident “is incredibly concerning” and she was thankful Lake and her staff weren’t harmed.
“Political violence, threats, or intimidation have no place in our democracy,” Hobbs said. “I strongly condemn this threatening behavior directed at Lake and her staff.”
In September, Hobbs suffered a break-in at her office. Her campaign manager discussed the break-in as one example of “the threats that have become common in our politics.” Meanwhile, Lake accused the Hobbs campaign of staging the break-in to make the GOP look bad. The police have described no evidence of a political motive either way, not even since making an arrest.
Lake’s office received the suspicious envelope just weeks after a deranged man’s attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
As of February, more than 75 people have faced indictments for threats against lawmakers since 2016.
According to one review of those indictments, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — the country’s most powerful legislator — remains the most threatened member of Congress, but Republicans face threats from more directions: threats from liberals, from fellow conservatives unhappy with the current governance, and from mentally ill people without any clearly partisan motives.
In 2017 a far-left would-be assassin opened first on multiple Republican congressmen and senators preparing for their upcoming congressional baseball game. The gunman seriously wounded Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., before being taken out by police.
Governor Ducey must assign a DPS protection detail to Kari Lake immediately
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) November 6, 2022
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.