'No dangerous substances' in white powder found in 5 letters at 26 Federal Plaza, Adams says
26 Federal Plaza is the same building used, in part, as a 'processing center' for ICE
MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) -- Envelopes containing a white powder that were found at a government building in New York City housing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office did not contain any dangerous substances, officials said Friday.
The incident occurred Thursday afternoon at 26 Federal Plaza, in Manhattan's Foley Square, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.
26 Federal Plaza is the New York headquarters of federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Homeland Security and ICE.
The five letters were found at about 4 p.m. in the mailroom of the ICE Enforcement and Removal Office on the ninth floor, according to the FBI.
Initial testing on Friday showed that the substance was a boric acid, commonly used in pesticides and other chemicals. It can be harmful if eaten.
"We are told the preliminary results indicate there were no dangerous substances that were involved. I was briefed by Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry who was on the scene," Adams said. "Let's be clear, this still is a serious crime, and the FBI, I'm told is going to conduct their investigation. And anything we can do to assist, we will do so. This was a crime. It should not have happened, and we are going to make sure the person responsible will be brought to justice."
Authorities said two people were initially exposed to the powders, and the hazmat team immediately responded.
Officials say the building was evacuated as standard protocol and "no threat remains to any employees or the public at this time."
The building has come under intense scrutiny in recent months as the Trump Administration has ramped up deportations of undocumented immigrants, many of whom were following legal processes like showing up for scheduled hearings only to be scooped up, detained and ultimately shipped out of the country.
Just this week, a federal judge ordered the agency to improve conditions for detained immigrants after the surfacing of videos obtained by ABC News.
If anyone is to be charged in this case, it will be on the federal level.
"This is attempted bioterrorism, is scaring people with bioterrorism, and that's the big thing, this is a serious crime," said ABC News contributor and former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.
Murad Awawdeh heads up the nonprofit NY Immigration Coalition. His organization wages peaceful protests against ICE and calls for due process and better treatment of immigrants.
"We're not encouraging people to do things that will harm anyone, what we are doing is fighting for people's rights and we don't want to take attention away from that," Awawdeh said.
The FBI is investigating.
(ABC News contribute to this report.)
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