Thursday, 4:30 PM
White powder sent to federal judge harmless, officials say
By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff
The white powder that prompted the evacuation of the Moakley federal courthouse this afternoon was a harmless "food product" sent to a judge in an envelope that was designed to incite panic, a fire official said.
Judges and lawyers reentered the courthouse at 4:30 p.m. after a hazardous materials team determined that the substance was not dangerous, said District Fire Chief Neil Walsh of the Boston Fire Department. So much of the white powder had been packed into the envelope sent to US District Judge Morris E. Lasker that it spilled all over the clerk who opened it and on to two other people.
"It was meant to be a problem," Walsh said.
Fire officials responded to Lasker's chambers on the fourth floor when they received a call at 3:14 pm for a report of a hazardous substance. Hundreds of lawyers, judges, clerks, jurors, and law enforcement officials streamed out of the building as emergency vehicles rushed to the scene.
The fire department has turned the investigation over to the US Marshal’s office, which will try to determine the source of the powder.
