12:50 p.m. — The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas reports that a loudspeaker message at the Hart Senate Office Building announced that “all tests were negative” — indicating that no poison was found on the suspicious letters.
12:47 p.m. — The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas reports that a loudspeaker message at the Hart Senate Office Building announced that the Hart building is clear, and both Senate buildings are now open. The Capitol Police issued a statement saying that the suspicious packages have been removed.
12:41 p.m. — The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas reports that the bomb squad has left the Russell Senate Office Building, the closed hallway has been reopened. A spokesman for Sen. Richard Shelby has confirmed to TheDC that their Russell office received a suspicious package.
TheDC’s Alex Pappas snapped this photo of a bomb squad leaving the Russell Senate Office Building.
12:33 p.m. — The Saginaw, Mich. building housing Sen. Carl Levin’s office was evacuated and hazardous-material crews are investigating a suspicious letter received by the senator’s staff, CainTV reports. The FBI is inbound.
12:26 p.m. — Sen. Carl Levin issued a statement that reads, “Earlier today, a staffer at my Saginaw, [Mich.] regional office received a suspicious-looking letter. The letter was not opened, and the staffer followed the proper protocols for the situation, including alerting the authorities, who are now investigating. We do not know yet if the mail presented a threat.”
12:20 p.m. — A Fox News reporter tweeted that the Michigan office of Sen. Carl Levin received a “suspicious-looking letter,” which was not opened.
12:18 p.m. — White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the FBI is leading the investigation of the letters sent to President Barack Obama and a senator.
12:15 p.m. — The FBI says there is no indication that suspicious letters have any connection with the Monday terrorist attacks at the Boston Marathon.
12:12 p.m. — Sources tell The Daily Caller that parts of the two Senate office buildings have been cleared — others are locked down. Sen. Joe Manchin has tweeted that his office has been locked down.
12:05 p.m. — CNN reports that police are X-raying the man’s backpack, and that a source has called the man “disturbed.”
12:01 p.m. — CNN reports that a man in possession of sealed letters has been detained and is being questioned by Capitol Police. Fox News reports that the suspicious letter sent to President Barack Obama tested positive for Ricin poison.
11:48 a.m. — MSNBC reports that there is a suspicious letter in Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby’s office. His office is on the third floor of the Russell Building.
TheDC’s Alex Pappas snapped this photograph of a closed hallway in the Russell Senate Office Building.
11:40 a.m. — The Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. is being evacuated, The Daily Caller has learned, and staff in the Hart Senate Office Building have been told to stay in their offices. The atrium of the Hart Building has also been cleared.
A source in the Hart Building told TheDC that “there is a suspicious envelope on the 3rd floor of Hart.”
Over 1,000 people work in the buildings, which contain the offices of senators as well as their extensive staffs. It is unclear what has caused the evacuation, though Politico has reported that a bomb squad has been called to the Russell Building.
The evacuation comes as the Secret Service and Capitol Hill Police investigate a suspicious letter sent to President Barack Obama, one day after an envelope containing poison Ricin was sent to Sen. Roger Wicker’s Capitol office, and two days after a twin bombing attack in Boston, Massachusetts killed three and wounded over 100 people.