The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating suspicious packages that were sent to election officials in six states on Monday, the law enforcement agency said in a statement Tuesday.
Officials in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma were targeted. Reuters reported.
The FBI said some of the letters contained an unknown substance that was being tested.
The sender of the letters identified themselves as the “United States Traitor Elimination Army,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a post on X.
The threats to election officials come just weeks before Americans head to the polls on Nov. 5 to choose between Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump.
The country is deeply polarized and on edge amid rising political violence and two assassination attempts on Trump.
The FBI said it was working to identify those responsible, determine a motive and how many letters had been sent in total.
Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen's office said his election division had received a “suspicious” envelope with a substance inside. He added that the substance had been tested and found not to be dangerous.
The threats follow similar letters sent to election officials in several states in November.
