An Oklahoma man mailed hundreds of letters containing powder to officials ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections, according to court documents unsealed on Nov. 3.
Robin Martin was identified during an investigation into the letters, an FBI agent said in a court filing.
Martin was charged with conveying false or misleading information and hoaxes, as well as mailing threatening communications. He did not have an attorney listed on the court docket, and an email to an address listed in the filing bounced back on Nov. 3.
The FBI stated in an alert in October that suspicious substances were found in mail sent to election officials and others. The agency stated at the time that no hazardous material had been identified but that laboratory testing was ongoing.
Lab results to date show the powders in the letters were either yeast or flour, although not all letters have been fully tested, the FBI agent said in the new filing.
Some of the letters with white powder were sent to state election officials in September 2024. Others were intercepted at about that time.
The agent said it is reasonable to believe that people receiving mail with white powder would believe that it was anthrax or a toxin.
In one of the letters, sent from “United States Traitor Elimination Army” (USTEA) with a Maryland address to the Oklahoma State Election Board, the writer wrote: “Stay on the right side of history. Your life might depend on it!”
The letters also listed demands and stated that more mailings would be sent if the demands were not met, “and it won’t be flour next time in the envelopes.”
The same Oklahoma board alerted the FBI that it had received a letter with powder in October, according to the filing. This time, the sender self-identified as DSA New York.
U.S. Postal Service and law enforcement personnel identified more than 700 mailings that appeared to be associated with the same sender, including letters to Republican and Democratic members of Congress.
The letters varied, but all pertained to the upcoming election. In some of the messages, the sender referenced USTEA and threatened arrest for treason.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) provided law enforcement with a tip that a person who said he was George Livingston had made contact with the group in August through email.
Emails from the group were later added to a mailing list that featured the same individual posting messages apparently meant to be humorous, according to the filing, and on Oct. 11, the person posted a message in which they said they were an undercover agent in charge of the USTEA.
Law enforcement obtained information about the email address from Google, details from AT&T about the phone number listed as a recovery number, and information from Walmart about purchases linked to the phone’s identifier, including items such as security envelopes and stamps.
A warrant turned up that the same phone was at or around Martin’s residence on Oct. 9 before going to multiple postal distribution centers later that day and the following day.
The FBI on Oct. 21 intercepted an envelope with the DSA return address and addressed to the bureau’s director. Agents traced the letter back to one of the distribution centers at which Martin had been, utilizing surveillance video.
