Suspicious Powder Shuts Down Islamic Council's NorCal Office

A suspicious package containing a powdery substance sent to a Council on American-Islamic Relations office in Santa Clara has led to an evacuation Thursday afternoon, according to the advocacy group’s regional executive director.

Everyone inside CAIR’s office and other businesses at the two-story building at 3000 Scott Blvd. were evacuated as of 2:30 p.m., said Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Bay Area chapter of CAIR. Billoo said she was not at the office Thursday afternoon.

CAIR workers notified police and the FBI soon after the discovery, she said.

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Billoo said there are raised concerns about the suspicious package because of a similar incident that happened at the council’s national office in Washington, D.C.

The national office received a letter containing a “foreign substance” in the mail earlier today, the organization said on Twitter.

Preliminary tests of the substance sent to the Washington office showed it was not dangerous and the FBI now has possession of the letter, which they will continue to test, the organization said on Twitter.

Brice Hamack, CAIR’s Northern California civil rights coordinator, said he was one of three people at the Santa Clara office when they found the substance.

Hamack said he was outside of the building as of around 2:30 p.m. and did not know of any injuries reported.

--Bay City News Service, photo via Shutterstock