US Republican HQ locked down over ‘hazmat’ threat 

The Republican National Committee’s (RNC) offices in Washington, DC were placed on lockdown on Wednesday morning, following reports of a hazardous material discharge.

Police cordoned off the building on Capitol Hill, while fire trucks and ambulances were parked nearby. The lockdown was eventually lifted around 9:40am local time, with no official explanation as to what happened.

“It sounds like vials of blood were sent in a package and something broke open,” an anonymous source told the New York Post.

Congresswoman Ana Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, partly confirmed this claim. “Blood in vial was sent to RNC HQ,” she posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Along with some other things.”

There were no reports of injuries.