Photo courtesy of CAIR.
This post was updated to reflect latest findings about the suspicious substance.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations building in D.C. is currently under evacuation, after the office received an envelope filled with a suspicious substance.
“We’re all outside the building,” says Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s National Communications Director. The only exception: the several staffers who remain quarantined inside the building on New Jersey Avenue SE.
D.C. Fire has responded to the scene with hazmat gear.
“We receive threats on almost a daily basis, so it’s nothing new for us,” says Hooper. “But a suspicious substance—that’s new. We don’t normally publicize threats to ourselves but when you have to evacuate, it’s a little different.”
At 3:09 p.m., CAIR tweeted: “Preliminary field tests indicate the substance is not dangerous, letter is now in the hands of the FBI for more extensive tests and investigation.”
DCist yesterday spoke to a man who received anti-Muslim threats after canceling an appointment with a painting company.
Hat tip to Alan Henney.
Rachel Kurzius