Police officers take security measures as the headquarters of the Republican National Committee building was shut down due to a suspicious package in Washington, DC (Picture: Getty Images)
Vials of blood addressed to ex-President Donald Trump were sent to the political committee expected to announce him as their 2024 presidential nominee.
Two vials were discovered at the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) headquarters in Washington, DC, on Wednesday morning.
The vials forced an evacuation at the headquarters and hazardous-materials teams responded to the scene just southwest of the US Capitol.
It was not immediately clear if the suspicious items had any messages attached to them.
Police officers take security measures as the headquarters of the Republican National Committee building was shut down due to a suspicious package in Washington, DC (Picture: Getty Images)
RNC Chairman, Michael Whatley called it a ‘revolting attack’.
The mysterious incident happened less than two months before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, during which the RNC is set to officially nominate Trump as its 2024 nominee.
Whatley thanked law enforcement for a quick response.
The Republican National Committee is holdings its national convention in Milwaukee in July (Picture: AP)
‘The lockdown has been cleared and staff has resumed their office duties because we remain unintimidated and undeterred in our efforts to elect President Trump to the White House,’ he stated.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said ‘any form of threats’ have ‘no place in our politics, no place anywhere’.
RNC counsel Todd Steggerda sent a letter to the Secret Service in April calling for officials to keep protesters, who are expected to descend on the convention in July, farther from the site. Steggerda said the existing plan ‘creates an elevated and untenable safety risk to the attending public’.
Former President Donald Trump is expected to be the Republican National Committee’s 2024 presidential nominee (Picture: Getty Images)
Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who is married to his second eldest son Eric Trump, was recently handpicked to serve as RNC co-chair.
‘My No 1 goal is making sure that Donald Trump is the 47th president,’ she said on Wednesday.
A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll released the same day showed that Trump narrowly leads President Joe Biden in five swing states. Trump lead Biden 49% to 44% in Arizona, 47% to 44% in Georgia, 49% to 42% in North Carolina, 48% to 46% in Pennsylvania and 47% to 46% in Wisconsin.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.