Omar targeted by suspicious substance deemed not hazardous

A suspicious substance included in a package with a threatening note reported by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) wasn’t found to be hazardous, U.S. Capitol Police said Tuesday.

“Today our office received a package with a suspicious substance and a threat reading ‘The Patriarchy will rise again. Merry f***ing Christmas,’” the lawmaker wrote on Twitter Tuesday. 

“Everyone on our team is okay. We reported the package to Capitol Police and they determined it to be safe.”

Capitol Police sent a note to Capitol staff close to 3:30 p.m. warning of the substance near Omar’s office.

“The USCP is continuing to investigate a Suspicious Substance located in the Longworth House Office Building in the vicinity of Room 1730,” U.S. Capitol Police wrote in a notice to Capitol Hill staff obtained by The Hill.

“Staff and other personnel are directed to AVOID THIS AREA until further notice.”

But Capitol Police reopened the area near Omar’s office shortly thereafter, noting test results were “negative for anything hazardous.”

Omar, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, has often been a target of violent threats, with the FBI in 2019 opening an investigation into a death threat involving a plan to kill her at the Minnesota State Fair.

Threats against lawmakers have nearly doubled in 2021.