An Oklahoma City man faces federal charges over a campaign of more than 700 threatening letters, some dusted with white powder, that he is accused of mailing to election officials and others across the country.
Robin Patrick Martin, 67, was arrested and charged in federal court for Oklahoma's Western District. The complaint accuses him of sending threats through the mail and of spreading hoaxes built on false information.
Every powder tested so far has proved to be flour or yeast, according to an FBI affidavit.
Authorities allege the mailings, spread across 2024 and 2026, went to members of Congress, pollsters, news organizations and the FBI itself, in addition to election offices.
One landed at the Oklahoma State Election Board on Oct. 13. That envelope held white powder, and offices in the state Capitol were cleared, the criminal complaint says.
Two waves of mail
FBI Special Agent David Cole wrote that the bureau and the Postal Service first spotted suspicious packages in 2024, addressed to election officials in every state and bearing a return address for a group calling itself the United States Traitor Elimination Army.
Those packages carried white powder, messages visible only under ultraviolet light and three-page letters headed DECLARATION OF WAR. Their return address was in Takoma Park, Maryland, though investigators found no connection between that address and the sender.
A second wave of more than 700 mailings followed this year, listing DSA NEW YORK NY as the return address. FBI field offices concluded the mailings appear to share a single sender.
The affidavit says investigators found no evidence tying the Democratic Socialists of America, the country's largest socialist political organization, to the letters, and that the group has stopped using the address printed on the envelopes.
Tracing the sender
DSA members told investigators they had also gotten emails from someone using the name George Livingston, who claimed membership in the Traitor Elimination Army, described an ambush planned for Nov. 3 and warned that casting a ballot in the midterms would amount to treason.
Investigators say the wording of those emails matched the writing on envelopes mailed in October. They linked the emails to a phone number and a cellphone Martin bought at an Oklahoma City Walmart, where they allege he also picked up ingredients for invisible ink.
The October mailings were dropped at post offices in Oklahoma City, northern Texas and San Antonio from Oct. 9 to 13, and agents tracked Martin and his vehicle to those spots, the affidavit says.
The FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Capitol Police, Oklahoma City police and the Texas Department of Public Safety are investigating.
Martin's lawyer, Kiefer Rose, did not respond to a phone call seeking comment. Federal public defenders are handling his case.
