California state Capitol ‘deemed safe’ following threat, evacuation

A threat at California’s state Capitol forced construction workers and legislative staff to evacuate for much of Friday, but the building will reopen for normal hours on Monday, officials said.

At around 5 p.m. Friday, the California Highway Patrol announced it had finished sweeping the construction site and the Capitol building in Sacramento, and that both were “clear and deemed safe,” according to agency spokesperson Kelly DeLeon.

“The CHP will continue to follow investigative leads related to the initial threat,” DeLeon wrote in a statement.

The building, which is usually closed to the public on weekends, will reopen for normal business hours at 9 a.m. Monday, according to DeLeon, who did not respond to follow-up questions.

The Capitol was evacuated Friday morning after construction crews in the west wing of the building reported a threat to authorities, according to the CHP.

Authorities did not elaborate on the nature of the threat, but said they evacuated the building as a precaution.

Photos shared on social media showed dozens of construction workers huddled together.

Also shared on social media was a copy of an email to the Senate staff from Erika Contreras, the secretary of the state Senate.

In it, she said that work crews as well as those working around the construction site were evacuated.

Employees in the legislative office building and in a nearby building temporarily used to house members of the Legislature, the governor and lieutenant governor were not affected, according to the email.

The Legislature is in recess and the 120 members of the state Senate and Assembly are in their districts.