LINCOLN, Neb.—The Nebraska National Guard headquarters in Lincoln was among the Guard units and reserve facilities in 36 states to have received suspicious letters last week.
An internal report from the Department of Homeland Security said the 51 packages included anti-war compact discs.
Lt. Col. Bob Vrana of the Nebraska National Guard said two envelopes showed up Friday and were turned over to the Nebraska State Patrol, which found nothing dangerous inside.
One came to the Nebraska Military Department mailroom, the other to the Nebraska Air Guard Base at Lincoln Airport, Vrana said Wednesday.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about the envelopes, he said, and both contained anti-U.S. government propaganda.
Vrana said other Guard units across the country had gotten similar envelopes, so they passed along an alert.
“Since (the terrorist attacks of) Sept. 11, 2001, we’ve had procedures in place for these types of mailings in our mailroom in order to safeguard our people,” Vrana said.
Initial reports from Washington, D.C., that one of the packages contained a powdery substance turned out to be incorrect, officials said.
National officials initially had been told by a number of people that a package received at Utah’s National Guard headquarters in Draper also contained a suspicious powdery substance that was tested and found not to be toxic.
But Lt. Col. Hank McIntire, a spokesman for the Utah Guard, said Wednesday that “first reports of the incident were incorrect.”
The National Guard notified the FBI about the suspicious packages. However FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said these packages appeared to be someone exercising their First Amendment rights, which is not a crime. He said the FBI is not investigating these mailings, and they are unrelated to the suspicious packages sent to some governors’ offices and U.S. embassies.
Sixteen U.S. embassies in Europe have also received letters containing a suspicious white substance, and tests have shown 14 of them to be harmless, State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said Wednesday. Test results for the substance in one of the letters has not yet been received, he said.
More than 40 governors’ offices nationwide have also gotten the letters, which contain an unspecified note, FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said Tuesday.
That includes one sent to Gov. Dave Heineman of Nebraska.
The FBI said that all of those were postmarked from Texas; the letters began showing up in states last week. They all appear to be from the same source, and have tested negative for any dangerous toxin or other threat, authorities said.
