The Office of Secretary of the State said the suspicious envelope was intercepted at a West Hartford Post Office on Tuesday.

By Ronni Newton

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) alerted Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas late Monday afternoon that envelopes containing “unidentified white powder” had been sent to and received by elections offices throughout the country, and on Tuesday morning a suspicious envelope was intercepted at a U.S. Post Office facility in West Hartford, officials said.

SOTS staffers had been briefed on protocols regarding the proper handling of hazardous materials, including the use of protective gear, in case one of the envelopes was received in Connecticut, a spokesperson for Thomas said in a news release on Tuesday. The Connecticut Intelligence Center (CTIC), the state’s designated fusion center which is “the focal point for the receipt, analysis, and sharing of threat-related information between State, Local, Tribal and Territorial (SLTT), federal, and private sector entities,” was also put on alert.

“This morning, SOTS was notified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) intercepted an envelope at a USPS facility in West Hartford that matched the description of suspicious envelopes received by other offices. It has been sent to the state lab for processing,” the news release stated. No information has been released regarding the results of the testing.

The FBI and U.S. Postal Service are also involved in the investigation.

“I want to thank USPIS, the FBI, CISA, and CTIC for their quick action and work to protect the people of Connecticut,” Thomas said in a statement. “For almost two years, we have been working as a team preparing for events such as this and we are now seeing why that work has been so important.”

The SOTS asks that anyone who observes any suspicious activity that could endanger others to contact 866-HLS-TIPS (866-457-8477) or send the information in an email to [email protected]. Anyone who observes suspicious activity around mailboxes or mail should report it to USPS by calling 877-876-2455 the news release said.

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