Someone noticed a suspicious package sent to Rep. Maxine Waters’ (D-Calif.) district office in South Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon addressed to “Anne Thrax.” As Waters has recently received death threats, the authorities were contacted.
Parts of the office building were evacuated, and the Los Angeles Police Department and a hazardous materials (HazMat) crew removed the package. The crew rendered the package safe, but the LAPD’s Major Crimes Division launched an investigation, said spokesman for the department, Officer Mike Lopez, according to the Los Angeles Times. One individual came in contact with the package, but the person had no medical complaints.
Waters has represented California’s 43rd congressional district since 2013, and she has become a staunch critic of President Donald Trump.
At a rally last month, Waters said that those who oppose Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy should question his Cabinet members wherever they encounter them. In a tweet, Trump said Waters called for harm to his supporters; said, again, that she has a low IQ; and warned her to “be careful.”
Waters said she did not “call for harm” of Trump staffers, as the president alleged in a tweet.
Related Story: Maxine Waters Cancels Events Amid Shooting and Lynching Threats
The same week as Trump’s warning to Waters, the congresswoman canceled two events after receiving threatening messages and “hostile mail” at her office.
“This is just one in several very serious threats the United States Capitol Police are investigating in which individuals threatened to shoot, lynch or cause me serious bodily harm,” Waters said in June of the death threats.
Earlier this month, top Democrats, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, were called out by more than 150 Black women leaders for not supporting Waters amid death threats and verbal attacks by the Trump administration.
Related Story: Black Women Slam Top Democrats for ‘Failure to Protect’ Maxine Waters — a ‘Shero’
The women penned a letter criticizing the actions of Pelosi and Schumer.
“For Black women, who are the most loyal base of the Democratic Party and the Progressive Movement, Congresswoman Waters is our shero,” the letter states.
“We write to share our profound indignation and deep disappointment over your recent failure to protect Congresswoman Waters from unwarranted attacks from the Trump Administration and others in the GOP.”
