White Powder Mailed To Trump Tower Ruled Harmless
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- An envelope containing a suspicious white powdery substance caused a scare when it was opened at a campaign office of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but it later was deemed to be harmless.
The New York City health department said Friday that preliminary tests "were negative for a number of dangerous agents, including the agent that causes anthrax."
It said additional tests to determine exactly what it is won't be available for another week.
First responders rushed to Trump Tower near Central Park Thursday night after a high school intern from Westchester County opened a letter with white powder inside.
The office is used by Trump's presidential campaign for volunteers to make calls and open mail, sources told CBS2.
Sources said the intern was decontaminated as a precaution and about half a dozen others, including a police officer, were isolated and monitored as a precaution, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.
All of this went on as the GOP front-runner campaigned in California. Sources said Trump was notified about what happened and that none of his family members were present when the letter was opened.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions about the brief scare to the U.S. Secret Service, which didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
In March, an envelope that contained a non-hazardous white powder and a threatening letter was mailed to the apartment of Trump's son Eric Trump, who has campaigned for him.
The handwritten note, postmarked from Boston, said: "If your father does not drop out of the race, the next envelope won't be a fake.''
Two days later, a threatening letter was sent to Trump's sister Maryanne Trump Barry, a judge who sits on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Pennsylvania.
The FBI said at the time it was working alongside the Secret Service and the Marshals Service to investigate.
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