Some Kansas lawmakers worry letters with white powder could be targeted act

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (WDAF) – Political leaders in Kansas are trying to figure out what’s next after suspicious letters showed up in the mailboxes of more than 100 elected officials this past weekend.

Kansas Republican leaders called it a cowardly attempt to intimidate the legislature. 

One state lawmaker in Great Bend believes someone might be targeting them.

“Now I’m going to be thinking twice before I open up my mail or talking to strangers,” state Rep. Tory Marie Blew said. 

On Friday, Hazmat responded to Blew’s parents’ house after she picked up an envelope at her P.O. Box in Great Bend. 

Thick on one end, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office warned her not to open it and called the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

“The KBI said get it out of your car, get it outside and get it away from anybody,” Blew said.

Kansas Republican leaders have since said more than 100 state and legislative officials have received threatening letters filled with a suspicious powdery substance. 

“I had two events I had to go to. They were family events,” Blew said. “But still I was shook up whenever I saw somebody I didn’t know.”

Blew said she’s grateful she got a heads up not to open the envelope, but other lawmakers didn’t — and found a threatening letter inside. 

“It said, ‘Don’t choke on your ambition,'” Blew said.

Blew said the return address is a local church in her hometown of Great Bend, and the name belongs to a transgender person who had died. She said other lawmakers have similar stories with their envelopes. 

She believes the sender could be targeting lawmakers who supported bills aimed at banning trans athletes from women’s sports or restricting residents from identifying themselves as their preferred gender.

“Both of those, we overrode the governor’s veto on, and we’ve been told that was an attack on transgender individuals,” Blew said. “And so I think that is where it’s coming from, but I don’t know.”

In a statement, Joint Republican Legislative Leadership said, in part, “While we don’t yet know who is behind this threat, our members will not be intimidated by extremists who look to undermine the will of the people we were elected to serve.”

According to Republican leaders, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the powder doesn’t seem to be harmful.

“It’s really unfortunate our political climate has come to where we are today, and I really hope it will stop,” Blew said. “And I’m hopeful the KBI and FBI will find who did this.”