‘We won’t be intimidated’: Rep. Al Green speaks out after suspicious powder letter sent to office

The Texas Democrat says whoever is responsible should face prosecution as investigators examine similar letters sent to lawmakers.

U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) is calling out the perpetrator behind a letter that was sent to his congressional office containing a suspicious powder.

The longtime congressman, 79, held a press conference on Monday to inform the public that his local office in Houston had received the letter addressed to him.

“If a person is doing this as a joke, it’s not funny,” said Green, who expressed he was “upset” while he displayed an image of the letter envelop that was mailed to his congressional office.

The U.S. congressman declared, “This is intolerable. We won’t tolerate it and we also won’t be intimidated.”

Green is an outspoken critic of Donald Trump and who infamously protested the president over a video depicting former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.

The letter was dated on Oct. 13 and was sent from San Antonio based on the postage information printed on the envelop. While the letter turned out not to be of any real harm, it is part of a pattern of suspicious letters being sent to members of Congress.

According to The Washington Sun, at least 40 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate have had letters with suspicious white powders sent to their offices, both in D.C. and locally, as well as the offices of several secretaries of state and election officials. The mailed letters are being investigated by the FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. All of the subsances found in the letters were determined to not be hazardous.

The group of members of Congress targeted has included both Democrats and Republicans, including U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

As a result of the 2001 anthrax poisoning, which killed five people, letters sent to Capitol Hill are screened offsight before they are sent to congressional offices. However, for local field offices, screenings may vary.

Congressman Green shared that a similar screening using “special equipment” is conducted at his Houston office; however, he the scare has unnecessarily inconveienced his staff and local authorities.

“That costs us. It’s money well spent, sure. But it’s money that shouldn’t have to be spent. This is money that can go to other things,” Green explained. “We want to make sure that people in these congressional offices are safe, as in any other public space, but we cannot continue to have this kind of thing happen.”

The Texas congressman said he would like to see the person responsible for the letter face justice over the incident, which has involved federal authorities, as well as the Houston Fire Department, Houston Police Department and Houston Health Department.

“We want you caught, and we want you punished to the fullest extent the law allows. And that ought to include having to pay for the number of people that had to respond to this,” said Green. “I think incarceration is appropriate for the harm you are causing, in terms of the lives that have been impacted.”

The congressman added, “This is unacceptable.”

Rep. Green said the letters, as well as other threats of doing “ugly things,” create a “disturbance,” and urged, “This has got to stop. People have to be prosecuted.”

The Texas lawmaker urged the public to contact the authorities if they recognize the handwriting or have a clue of who is responsible. He warned as a cautionary tale, “If they can do this to a congressional office…they can send it to your home.”

When asked if he thought the letter sent to his office was connected to the upcoming midterm election, Congressman Green said it’s possible, given it occurred on the first day of early voting.

He said, “We don’t want elections to become the subject of people afraid to go out because of this behavior.”