County building, courthouse evacuated after powdery substance mailed to Panetta’s office

The Santa Cruz County Building and courthouse were evacuated around 10:30 a.m. on Friday after U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s office received an envelope containing a suspicious powdery substance.

The incident prompted a multi-agency response from the Santa Cruz Fire Department, the county sheriff’s office, the bomb squad and an interagency hazmat team. As of just after noon, the building had not yet been cleared for reentry; no injuries have been reported.

County Clerk Tricia Webber noted that similar incidents have happened across the country in recent weeks, which have proved to be hoaxes, as the substances have been identified as sugar or flour. However, that had not been confirmed in this case by early afternoon. Her office also received a bomb threat shortly after the 2024 election.

“Unfortunately, threats and suspicious packages are becoming more common,” Webber said, but added she did not know whether this incident was meant to specifically disrupt the election process.

In an afternoon email to staff, county executive officer Nicole Coburn said that the government building and courthouse would likely remain closed for the rest of the day, and also referenced similar instances across the United States. “We are aware of similar incidents reported elsewhere in the country and are investigating whether there may be a connection,” she wrote. “No connection has been confirmed at this time.”

Panetta arrived on site around 12:30 p.m., and said that although his staff and office have taken precautions because of these kinds of threats, and have received suspicious mail in the past, it’s always a scary situation. He said that the letter itself was from a New York address, but was postmarked from Texas. He said he has “the best staff anywhere,” and that the woman that opened the envelope was medically evaluated on scene and was cleared.

“These are the types of threats that, unfortunately, are more and more prevalent in this day and age of the rhetoric that we’re dealing with,” he said. “But it’s not going to be intimidating. We got a job to do and we’ll continue to do it.”

Panetta acknowledged the pattern of similar threats happening around the country, and said that there needs to be a change going forward.

“I’m always concerned for the safety and security of my staff, but they’re so good that they understand these are the types of things that we have to deal with,” he said, expressing gratitude to the first responders as well. “But it shouldn’t be like this. Politics can’t be based on the last 10 years of what we’ve gone through as a country. We have to take a turn going forward.”

This is a developing story and more information will be added. 

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.