Oklahoma Man Charged in Powder Letters Sent to Election Offices

Federal authorities have charged an Oklahoma City man with mailing hundreds of letters containing white powder to public officials and election offices across the country ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, Election Day.

Robin Martin is charged with conveying a hoax and mailing threatening communications, according to the AP. The powders turned out to be yeast or flour, though not every letter had been fully tested, the FBI said in a court filing made public Tuesday, the AP reported. Martin was expected to make his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Oklahoma City, and online records did not list an attorney who could comment on his behalf, according to the AP.

Federal authorities charged an Oklahoma man with sending hundreds of letters containing nonhazardous white powder to public officials. https://t.co/eD4pDzl6OU

— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) November 3, 2026

Arrest came on the eve of the midterms

The FBI arrested the Oklahoma City man early Monday, a federal law enforcement source told Fox News Digital, which first reported the arrest. The letters were sent to more than 100 locations, including multiple secretary of state and election offices, that source told Fox News.

Fox News reported that the investigation was led by the FBI’s Oklahoma City field office, the FBI Criminal Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Capitol Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department.

Federal authorities announced last month that they were investigating letters with “suspicious substances” mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide, and they urged recipients to treat the mailings as “potentially hazardous,” according to the AP. A message from the Senate Sergeant at Arms obtained by the AP said law enforcement officials were working to intercept additional letters, but warned “it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations.”

The FBI said in an Oct. 23 advisory that no hazardous material had been identified in the substances tested up to that point, though laboratory testing was still ongoing, Fox News reported. Several Senate offices reported receiving or being sent suspicious mail, according to Fox News.

A repeat of 2024

The scare is not new. During the 2024 election cycle, similar suspicious letters went to election offices in more than 15 states, prompting evacuations and hazmat responses, the AP reported at the time, according to Fox News. Authorities later determined that some of those substances were harmless.

The new charges suggest investigators believe one person may be tied to mailings across both election cycles. The court filing made public Tuesday covers letters sent before the 2024 and 2026 elections, according to the AP.

Why it matters

Election workers and county clerks already work under heavy pressure, and a single envelope of unknown powder can shut down an office, force an evacuation and pull hazmat crews away from other calls. Even when the substance proves to be flour, the disruption to the people running elections is real. Hoax threats of this kind are a federal crime precisely because they are designed to frighten officials and interrupt their work.

The arrest also lands as Americans vote in midterm elections that will decide control of the House and Senate. Election officials in several states had already put contingency security plans in place after last month’s federal alert about the mailings.

The FBI referred questions to the U.S. attorney’s office on Tuesday, and the Postal Inspection Service did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment. Martin has only been charged, and the allegations against him have not been proven in court.

Daily Beltway will update this story as court records and official statements become available.

Sources

• Associated Press
• The Guardian (AP)
• KOCO
• Fox News

Reporting by Daily Beltway.