Arizona Republican Congressman Raul Grijalva has had more than he bargained for in the morning mail on Thursday.
Staff at Grijalva’s office said that upon opening the morning mail, they found a white powder in a package which also contained two drawings of swastikas. The fire department at Tucson has confirmed that the powder is toxic, but no further details regarding what the substance was has been released.
Scientists from the FBI at their Phoenix, Arizona laboratory are now undertaking a full analysis of the powder to determine what it is, said Grijalva spokesman Adam Sarvana.
All of the near-dozen staff who were at the office that day were checked over by local authorities at the scene, before being sent home.
Sarvana said that the incident was reported at 12:30 on Thursday, and is the third security scare this year for Grijalva’s office.
"It's just a continuation of a problem we've been having," Grijalva has told reporters. "I do feel a great deal of concern for the people that work with me, for me. I feel concerned for the constituents that come to that office. "Obviously, we're going to have to make more changes."
In April, the Republican congressman was forced to close two of his offices for an afternoon, after threats were received in relation to his controversial stance on immigration. Later in July, a lone bullet shattered a window in the congressman’s office in Yuma.
There are as yet no leads as to who sent the package.
