An envelope sent to U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta‘s Santa Cruz office had a white powdery substance inside when a staffer opened it Friday morning, according to the congressman.
Panetta, a Democrat who represents California’s 19th Congressional District that covers parts of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, said in a statement that the staffer opened the envelope as part of her daily morning routine responding to constituents.
“Upon realizing that there was powder in the envelope, she immediately put the envelope in the garbage can, cleared fellow staff members out of the office, and called 911,” Panetta said in a statement.
The nature of the powder was not immediately confirmed by Panetta’s office, but he said the staff at his office “have been initially cleared by medical officials.”
Panetta’s Santa Cruz office is located on Ocean Street and is one of his four offices in the district along with ones in Monterey, San Jose and Paso Robles.
He was first elected to Congress in 2016 and is seeking reelection on the Nov. 3 ballot against Republican business owner Peter Coe Verbica.
No information about who might have sent the envelope was immediately available. Panetta in his statement condemned threats to public officials.
“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.”
