An envelope containing white powder was opened at the Arizona Department of State on Thursday, triggering a partial evacuation of the Capitol Executive Tower in Phoenix and pulling in both the FBI and state hazmat crews. No injuries have been reported, but authorities still have not identified the substance or figured out how the envelope made it into the building.
According to fox10phoenix.com, the envelope was sent to the Arizona Department of State on Thursday, prompting evacuations at the Executive Tower. Authorities responded by isolating the material along with anyone who may have been exposed, evacuating the rest of the floor's employees, and shutting off access entirely. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called the incident a targeted threat, a characterization that underscores how seriously his office is treating the discovery.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety confirmed it is investigating alongside the FBI, and a DPS spokesperson said there were no reported injuries at the time of the statement. Per azfamily.com, DPS' Hazardous Materials Response Team and the FBI were at the scene assessing the situation. The outlet also reported that Gov. Katie Hobbs was not in the tower when the incident occurred.
What the Executive Tower Houses
The Capitol Executive Tower is no minor office building — it houses the governor's office, the state treasurer's office, the secretary of state's office, and a range of other state agencies, boards and commissions, the same report notes. That mix of high-profile tenants is likely part of why the discovery of a suspicious substance prompted such a swift, coordinated response from state and federal investigators alike.
Fontes said his staff acted quickly and followed the lead of law enforcement and hazmat experts to protect both staff and customers. He added that his office would not be scared out of serving Arizona voters, and said he expects threats like this to continue as the election approaches, with his team remaining on high alert.
Hobbs, for her part, said the Executive Tower was briefly evacuated out of caution following a hazardous materials incident and confirmed her office is monitoring the situation alongside law enforcement. She reiterated that she was not in the tower when it was evacuated and that no injuries had been reported, and she thanked first responders for their swift response.
Part of a Wider Pattern Targeting Election Offices
The Phoenix incident lands amid a broader wave of suspicious mailings sent to election-related offices nationwide. The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to addresses across the country, including Secretary of State offices and related election offices, according to pbs.org. Some of those letters contained an unknown substance, the outlet reported.
Federal authorities are also investigating suspicious mailings sent to election officials and congressional offices in multiple states this week, as reported by knau.org. That same week, powdery packages led to evacuations of election offices in at least two other states, Louisiana and Oklahoma, per the PBS report. Ohio's secretary of state said the Postal Service intercepted a separate package containing a white powder intended for that office.
Similar Scares in Oklahoma and Louisiana
In Oklahoma, an envelope containing a white powdery substance was reported at the state election board office, prompting an evacuation of the area, according to ktul.com. That substance was later determined to be non-hazardous, and the Capitol Complex resumed normal operations once it was cleared safe.
In Louisiana, an employee who opened a letter sent to the Secretary of State's office was not injured but was taken to an emergency room as a precaution, the same KNAU report states. Law enforcement there found no evidence of harmful substances. KNAU noted the current wave of mailings mirrors 2024 incidents in which more than 15 state election offices received similar suspicious packages.
The pattern isn't new to Arizona, either. A prior white-powder incident at the state Capitol involved an envelope addressed to then-Gov. Jan Brewer, which briefly closed the State Capitol in Phoenix, according to foxnews.com. In that earlier case, the Capitol Tower was placed on lockdown for about an hour and no one was sickened. PBS also noted that in 2023, election offices in six states received white-powder mailings, some of which contained threats and traces of the opioid fentanyl.
For now, investigators in Phoenix have not identified the substance found Thursday or determined how it got into the Executive Tower, and no suspect or motive has been named. As first reported by 12News, the Executive Tower was evacuated as a precaution while authorities assessed the situation, and the investigation remains active.
