The offices for the “Recall Gascón” campaign, a grassroots effort to oust the far-left district attorney of Los Angeles, were evacuated on Thursday when staffers received a white powder envelope featuring hate speech symbols.
The envelope was mailed to the campaign office and featured white powder as well as swastikas written inside. After police responded with a hazmat and bomb squad team, the powder was later determined to be baking soda, according to ABC News.
Tim Lineberger, a recall Gascón spokesperson, said the office received the substance in one of the return petition envelopes. The staff was immediately evacuated.
“Everyone is OK,” Lineberger said. “This is a very crucial time (in the recall campaign) and we are losing hours, but of course our first and foremost concern is for our staff and volunteers.”
Tim Rosales of the Recall Gascón campaign tweeted a photo of the envelope.
“White powder and hate speech symbols just found in one of our #RecallDAGeorgeGascon return petition envelopes,” Rosales said. “Authorities have been notified and we are making sure our great volunteers are ok. There are a few bad/sick people out there.”
According to the New York Post, Lineberger said the office had previously received hate mail but never a powdery substance and never the types of racist messages contained.
The campaign to recall Gascón has picked up steam in recent weeks in the wake of San Francisco recalling its own far-left district attorney Chesea Boudin.
Just recently, the campaign announced that it indeed has the signatures to move forward with the recall effort.
“Today, the Recall DA George Gascon campaign announced it has surpassed 566,857 signatures collected as of June 14th, which equates to 10% of registered voters in Los Angeles County and is the required threshold to officially initiate a recall. This is the most signatures ever collected in Los Angeles County for any petition,” the campaign announced earlier this month.