White powder was discovered inside an envelope at the New York County district attorney’s office shortly after noon on 24 March, hours after former president Donald Trump raged at Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg and suggested “death and destruction” would follow any potential criminal indictment.
Law enforcement sources reportedly told NBC News that the envelope was addressed to Mr Bragg and contained a death threat inside. The letter was reportedly mailed from Orlando, Florida and postmarked on 21 March.
The New York City Police Department and FBI are investigating.
A grand jury has been convened to review evidence and hear witness testimony involving the former president’s alleged hush money payment to an adult film star in the lead up to the presidential election in 2016.
Mr Trump has repeatedly asserted that no crimes have been committed while accusing prosecutors of leading a politically motivated investigation. In a late-night post on his Truth Social account on 23 March, he wrote that “it is known” that “potential death [and] destruction” following a “false” charge against him would be “catastrophic for our country.” He also labelled Mr Bragg a “degenerate psychopath who truely [sic] hates the USA.”
A public information officer for NYPD confirmed to The Independent that a white powder was reported after noon. The envelope was reportedly marked “Alvin” and was opened in the mailroom, according to The New York Daily News.
The situation was “immediately contained” and authorities later determined the envelope’s contents were non-hazardous, according to a statement from DA spokesperson Danielle Filson to The Independent.
NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit and the city’s Department of Environmental Protection determined “there was no dangerous substance,” the statement added.
The incident also followed an unfounded bomb threat to a separate building in a separate case involving Mr Trump on 21 March. A hearing in Attorney General Letitia James’ $250m civil suit accusing Mr Trump and his associates of a years-long fraud sceme was delayed following an alleged threat in a 911 call, though a spokesperson for New York’s court said there was “no indication” that it was directly related to that case.
Law enforcement agencies are on heightened alert following Mr Trump’s false prediction on 18 March of his own imminent arrest coupled with his demands that his supporters take to the streets and protest, which spun a media frenzy and rallied his allies to his defense.
A grand jury has been meeting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays since January to consider evidence involving the former president’s role involving a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels that prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s office reportedly allege was an illegal campaign expenditure.
Grand juries convene in secret, and prosecutors are statutorily barred from discussing their actions. It is unclear whether the panel will hear from other witnesses. Details concerning the timing of the highly scrutinised case and potential charges, which could mark the first-ever criminal indictment of a former president, are largely unknown.
Barricades, members of Secret Service and uniformed New York City Police Department officers have surrounded Manhattan Criminal Court and Trump Tower, the midtown skyscraper that has served as headquarters for Mr Trump’s campaign and his Trump Organization. Protests against the DA’s office in support of the former president have largely been muted.
Jurors did not meet on 22 March, and they reportedly did not discuss the case when they convened on 23 March. An arrest and an arraignment, in which Mr Trump would be formally charged in a court proceeding, would not immediately follow an indictment, to which a majority of the grand jurors must agree.
