Overview

• Envelopes containing unknown white powder were discovered in the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations mailroom on the ninth floor of 26 Federal Plaza around 4 p.m., prompting an immediate evacuation
• FDNY Hazmat teams, NYPD units and the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction response teams deployed under standard protocol and decontaminated at least two exposed individuals
• The FBI has opened a criminal investigation, conducted initial on-scene assays and is transporting samples to Quantico for confirmatory testing
• Detainees from the building’s tenth-floor holding facility have been relocated offsite after a federal judge this week ordered improvements to living conditions
• City and federal officials report no known injuries, advise the public to avoid the area and warn of heightened law-enforcement presence and temporary closures