FBI investigates antisemitic mail, suspicious powder sent to New Mexico advocacy group
State Rep. Nathan Small, whose fliers were defaced in the mailing, calls out 'political extremism'
SANTA FE, N.M. – The FBI confirmed Friday that it is investigating a report from a Santa Fe-based environmental advocacy group that it received mail containing antisemitic imagery and a suspicious powdery substance inside.
FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said in an email that the substance was tested and determined not to be harmful. Further details were not being released in order to protect the integrity the investigation, he said.
Conservation Voters New Mexico Executive Director Demis Foster said the group received an envelop Wednesday in the mail that included a brown, powdery substance inside along with a torn up political flier that the group distributed in support of a Democratic state House representative who is running for reelection.
The mail included a reference to the Nazi Party, a swastika and other antisemitic symbols, Foster said. She said that first responders including police evacuated the building, and that an employee who opened the mail was released unharmed from a hospital after undergoing observation.
Foster said she and her employees are working remotely as a precaution, while continuing their advocacy for environmental causes and endorsed political candidates.
New Mexico’s attorney general and secretary of state this month issued an advisory that highlights safeguards against election interference and any potential harassment, intimidation or coercion.
State Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, identified himself as the candidate appearing on the fliers that were defaced. He is seeking a fourth term in the state House of Representatives and is facing Republican challenger Kim Skaggs, herself the executive director of the state Republican party, in the Nov. 8 election.
Small said he learned of the incident from Foster and that his initial reaction was concern for the safety of CVNM’s staff and other tenants of their office building, a few blocks from the state Capitol.
The incident, he said, illustrated a growing acceptance of political extremism, including intimidation and violence, through “a permission structure where that has space to be considered legitimate discourse.”
“The attempts to intimidate others around elections, unfortunately, are becoming more common,” he told the Las Cruces Sun-News.
He has called on the state GOP and the House Republican leader, Rep. Jim Townsend of Artesia, to make public statements denouncing the incident and supporting “free and civil elections.”
The Republican House spokesperson, Matthew Garcia-Sierra, responded, “Unfortunately we have been unable to review a police or FBI complaint of this incident and until we are able to do so, we are unable to provide comment on these serious allegations.”
The Sun-News has also reached out to Skaggs for comment.
Small said he would continue campaigning publicly in his home district.
“I will be out visiting with folks, walking through neighborhoods, knocking on doors — I will absolutely continue doing that,” he said.
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Algernon D'Ammassa of the Las Cruces Sun-News contributed to this report.