‘Suspicious’ substance delivered to NAACP building

A package with a derogatory message and suspicious substance arrived in the mail Monday at the NAACP office in Baltimore, the organization and city officials said.

NAACP National Press Secretary Marc Banks said that around 4 p.m. a “suspicious” package was delivered that had a derogatory message on it. Banks did not disclose what the message was and said it contained “powdery white substance.”

Baltimore City firefighters, including the hazmat unit, were called to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People office at 4805 Mt Hope Drive in a northwest Baltimore business park to investigate the substance, Banks said.

No injuries were reported.

“The climate that we’re in now, it’s really those people who want to quell our voice,” Banks said. “Tactics like this will not work.”

Baltimore Fire Chief Roman Clark said the employee who received the package took “every precaution he was supposed to.”

The employee opened the package and got the substance on his hands and immediately washed them and placed the package in a plastic bag, Clark said. The chief said the department is testing the substance but described it as a “low risk” situation.

By 6:30 p.m., units were clearing the scene and Banks said the fire department determined the substance was not hazardous.

The fire department did not respond to a request for an update Tuesday.