Bobby Rush Receives Letter With White Powder, Racial Epithets

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush received a letter containing white powder and racial epithets at his South Side office Thursday that prompted a response from the Fire Department and a brief evacuation.

From the STNG Wire report on CBS 2:

A Level 1 HazMat response was called as a precautionary measure, but the white powder was determined to be a harmless household product, [fire spokesman Larry] Langford said.

"There is absolutely, positively no threat at all," Langford said, though adding the letter included "hateful language."

A Rush aide told CLTV that the letter mentioned the KKK and made other derogatory racial references (no link or clip online as of this posting). Rush has been a central figure in the charged debate over the seating of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Senate appointee Roland Burris. At the press conference announcing Burris's appointment, Rush warned the press not to "hang or lynch" Burris over his ties to the embattled governor.