California State Capitol Is Reopened After Evacuating Due to Threat

Update, 2:20 p.m. Friday: California legislators and staff were allowed to return to the state Capitol on Friday several hours after an emailed threat prompted them to evacuate.

Law enforcement completed their sweep of the Capitol and surrounding buildings around 12:30 p.m. and determined the area was safe to return to.

“Staff may continue to work remotely for the rest of the day, and return to the office on Monday. Staff who need to report back to work in person today are clear to do so,” a memo from the Assembly Committee on Rules reads.

The same memo urged staff members to “be patient during the screening process” when they returned, and to report all suspicious activity to the California Highway Patrol.

Original story, 12:19 p.m. Friday: The California State Capitol was evacuated Friday morning after receiving an emailed threat.

The Office of the Secretary of the Senate says law enforcement is working to determine the threat’s credibility.

Lawmakers and staffers have been directed to leave as a precaution and work remotely until the threat is resolved.

California Highway Patrol officers were still on scene searching for threats around 11 a.m., according to CapRadio reporters at the Capitol.

Vinay Lall owns a food truck, India Jones, and was stationed outside of the Capitol on Friday.

“I don’t know what to expect because we start at 11 o’clock,” he told CapRadio. “[Business] may be impacted if nobody comes in from there. I’m assuming that we might be pretty slow.”

He added that he may move his truck if business doesn’t end up picking up.

Fourth grade students from Theodore Judah Elementary School had come to the Capitol for a field trip on Friday, but their tour was canceled as law enforcement investigated the threat.

“I am a bit scared,” said 10-year-old Aayush Tankhiwale. “I really wanted to see the inside of the whole building, but after this we also get to go somewhere else, just a movie, so it’s fine.”

Hundreds of athletes and trainers are descending upon the Sacramento region for the California International Marathon, scheduled to take place on Sunday. James Frank came from Georgia and hoped to visit the Capitol before race day.

“Well, there’s people on big horses that said that we can’t go in there,” he said. “My wife and I have toured a lot of different state capitols and so we just wanted to go in and see what it was like here.”

This story comes from CapRadio in Sacramento, a member of the California Newsroom with KQED.