Man charged with mailing hundreds of letters containing powder to officials before election
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- An Oklahoma City man was charged with mailing more than 700 letters containing suspicious white powder to election officials, members of Congress and others ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections.
- The powder tested so far turned out to be yeast or flour, but some letters remain untested; the mailings prompted evacuations at election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma.
- Investigators cite video of the man stopping at mailboxes and fingerprints on a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel; he faces charges of conveying a hoax and mailing threats.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Federal authorities charged an Oklahoma City man with sending hundreds of letters containing nonhazardous white powder to public officials ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections.
The powders turned out to be yeast or flour, though not all letters have been fully tested, the FBI said in a court filing made public Tuesday.
Robin Martin is charged with conveying a hoax and mailing threatening communications. Martin was arrested Monday and was expected to make an appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City.
Online records do not list an attorney who could comment on his behalf, and several relatives didn’t immediately respond to social media messages seeking comment.
Federal authorities announced last month that they were investigating letters with “suspicious substances” that had been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide and urged recipients to treat the mailings as “potentially hazardous.”
The packages led to the evacuation in October of election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma. Numerous states, from Idaho to Florida, said their election offices either received letters or had them intercepted by the Postal Service.
Investigators believe the same sender made more than 700 mailings. They were addressed to election officials, members of Congress, pollsters, news media and federal law enforcement, FBI agent David Cole said in an affidavit.
The investigation stretched back to 2024, when multiple election officials in every state reported receiving mail with a white substance and a three-page letter declaring war, the FBI said. Some bore ominous messages that could be read only under ultraviolet light.
The sender wrote a return address of “U.S.T.E.A., United States Traitor Elimination Army, Takoma Park, MD.”
A common message in the 2024 and 2026 mailings was a warning to recipients about upcoming arrests for treason “or worse!!”
The FBI said it has video evidence of Martin’s car stopping in October at mailboxes at Postal Service sites in Oklahoma City, Dallas and San Antonio. Investigators also gleaned his fingerprints from a letter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel, whose first name was written as “Kashyap.”
The Democratic Socialists of America apparently assisted the FBI in the investigation. The FBI said it believes Martin, posing as someone using the name George Livingston, posted a message to a DSA email list in October, warning that members were traitors and eligible for arrest for treason if they vote in the Nov. 3 election.
White and Hollingsworth write for the Associated Press. AP journalist Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
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