Congress members in Walnut Creek, San Jose, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz all recently reported receiving suspicious envelopes at their district offices. The cases add to a growing number of similar reports being made across the country.
As ABC7 reports, the local recipients include U.S. Representatives Mark DeSaulnier (Walnut Creek), Zoe Lofgren (San Jose), Ro Khanna (Santa Clara), and Jimmy Panetta (Santa Cruz) — all Democrats currently seeking re-election on this fall's midterm ballot.
Speaking with media, Panetta said that the envelope sent to his Santa Cruz office this week contained "a white powdery substance" that authorities later confirmed to be a mixture of sugar and flour.
This rash of suspicious letters sent to Northern California politicians comes as federal authorities continue to investigate more than 100 such reports across the country. ABC7 notes that recipients have included everyone from U.S. senators to local election offices.
In a statement responding to the letter received at his Walnut Creek office — which was reported to authorities and left unopened — Rep. Mark DeSaulnier decried the actions of the unknown perpetrators.
"Threats and political violence seem to have reached a fever pitch in our country," he said. "I urge my fellow Americans to stand united against such attempts at undermining our democracy."
DeSaulnier also confirmed that he doesn't plan to let the threat derail his current campaign for re-election against Republican Jeff Frese.
In Lofgren's case, a bomb squad turned up at her San Jose office on Friday. Ultimately, they determined the contents of the suspicious letter to be "non-hazardous" in nature but continue to investigate. It was a similar situation at Rep. Ro Khanna's office in Santa Clara, where emergency crews were spotted on Friday but refused to detail the cause of their visit.
In additional comments to media reported by ABC7, Panetta echoed DeSaulnier's sentiments in saying he refuses to be cowed by these tactics.
"Threats, fearmongering, and violence against public servants have become far too common over the past decade and undermine our democracy," Panetta said. "But these attempts to intimidate us will not deter us from doing our job."
Multiple investigations into who sent these suspicious mailings remain ongoing.
Related: More Than 80 Pounds of Possibly Stolen Mail Recovered in Major Bay Area Bust
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