Letter with white powder addressed to Utah Lt. Gov. Henderson intercepted, given to FBI

Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson is among several election officials across the country that have been sent suspicious white powder and threatening letters ahead of the midterm elections. 

Reports of the letters in Arizona, Ohio, Oklahoma and Louisiana began last week, prompting building evacuations and an FBI investigation with just over two weeks to go until the Nov. 3 elections. 

 

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In Utah, Henderson said in a social media post that on Sunday “our local postal inspector was able to intercept ours and hand it off to the FBI before it could be delivered to my office.” 

“We are grateful for his diligence and service!” Henderson wrote. “Also, nothing is going to disrupt the midterm election. We won’t let it happen.” 

Last week, when reports of the letters began surfacing and Utah News Dispatch asked about whether Henderson’s office had received any, the lieutenant governor’s office said in a prepared statement that U.S. Postal Service staff were keeping an eye out for any suspicious packages. 

“We have been in contact with postal service employees who are actively monitoring our mail for a similar letter so they can intercept it before it reaches our office,” Henderson’s office said Thursday. 

It’s not the first time threatening packages have been sent to Henderson or other election officials across the country. It happened in September 2024, when the FBI found a letter containing white powder addressed to Henderson’s office. It was signed by the “United States Traitor Elimination Army.” 

FBI intercepts ‘suspicious’ envelope containing white powder addressed to Utah Lt. Gov.

“This incident is the latest tactic in a nationwide trend of threats and intimidation toward election officials. But we will not be intimidated,” Henderson said in a statement in 2024. “I am grateful for the swift action of postal workers and law enforcement and the perseverance of election workers who show up and do their jobs every day despite all the rhetoric and risk. We love them. We owe them. They are heroes.”

In her post on Sunday, Henderson’s message was short, saying “nothing is going to disrupt” the election.

She also took the opportunity to point out that early in-person voting starts this week, and that Utahns can sign up for ballot tracking notifications at trackmyballot.utah.gov. 

Henderson has been in a national spotlight this year, including on CBS’ 60 Minutes over the weekend, as she has pushed back against an order from the Trump administration to turn over sensitive information from Utah’s voter rolls including social security numbers, full birth dates and driver’s license numbers. 

Her resistance has elicited both a lawsuit against the state and a personal investigation against her from the U.S. Department of Justice.