Someone sent mail containing feces to every Republican in the Ohio state Senate and officials are investigating the matter very seriously.
The mail containing the feces was intercepted on Thursday by postal employees in the Ohio Statehouse and post offices in Cleveland and Akron before any was received by Republicans.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating the matter as a federal crime.
Senate GOP spokesperson John Fortney said that it was unclear what motivated the bizarre act because the envelopes contained no other information. The letters had return addresses but those were deemed fake.
“This type of biohazard attack doesn’t just stop with the people it’s directed towards,” said Fortney. “This is something that could potentially affect every single employee at the Ohio Statehouse, regardless of their political affiliation.”
The law enforcement arm of the Postal Service said it was unclear whether the feces was human or animal, but Fortney said they are assuming the fecal matter was human.
State Sen. Stephanie Kunze, a moderate Republican, said these kinds of attacks would more likely hurt staffers more than the politicians themselves.
“It didn’t even reach elected officials, it reached our staff,” Kunze said. “They can be Democrat or Republican. It’s not an effective means except to put people in harm’s way.”
Another senator made a joke about the matter, despite saying it was quite serious.
“As public officials we often have to take a lot of crap from the public, and that’s part of our job, but this situation is taking it to a new level, unfortunately,” joked Ohio state Sen. Jerry Cirino.
Fortney had stronger words against whomever sent the disgusting letters.
“I’m really angry about it,” Fortney added. “These are a bunch of little scared, little cowards that wouldn’t say s*** or a thing to you face-to-face, right, they would rather send it in the mail.”
Here’s a local news video about the incident:
‘So disgusting’ — Ohio GOP senators react to receiving feces through the mail www.youtube.com