US election officials receive suspicious packages

The FBI has told US election officials to be on the alert, after offices in more than a dozen states received suspicious packages since Monday.

The items have been delivered in at least 15 states as of Wednesday, and some have prompted evacuations or otherwise disrupted the work of local authorities. None have caused injuries or been confirmed to pose a threat. Some were signed: “US Traitor Elimination Army.”

The FBI is “working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters,” spokesperson Kristen Setera has said in a statement to the media.

The agency previously distributed a memo to election officials, urging them to “remain vigilant and exercise caution when handling the mail.”

Some of the packages were addressed to secretaries of state, who are normally the top election officials at the state level. Their professional association, NASS, expressed its concern on Tuesday.

”We are seeing a disturbing trend continue – the second assassination attempt of a presidential candidate, and threatening and intimidating actions towards election officials,” the statement said. “This must stop, period. Our democracy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind.”

On Sunday, the US Secret Service thwarted what it called a possible attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump, the second such incident since July. The would-be shooter fled his sniper position at the perimeter of a golf course owned by the Republican nominee in Florida, and was taken into custody.

The letter scare is the second in the US since last November, when suspicious packages were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states. Some contained the narcotic substance fentanyl, investigators later established.

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