Health and Human Services Building Evacuated Over Alleged Bomb Threat: Official

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Washington on Nov. 15, 2016. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Several buildings near the Capitol were evacuated by authorities on Wednesday due to an alleged bomb threat, according to officials.

The Health and Human Services (HHS) building was shut down over the incident, HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Sarah Lovenheim said in a statement. The alleged bomb threat was reported at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, which houses HHS, she said in a statement.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we evacuated the building and there is no reported incident,” Lovenheim said. “We are monitoring the situation closely with Federal Protective Service,” she added.

The U.S. Capitol Police also issued alerts on Wednesday that the O’Neill House Office Building was evacuated due to a bomb threat. The U.S. Botanic Garden was evacuated as the Capitol Police and other agencies were responding to a suspicious package in the area, according to the alerts, which were obtained by local reporters.

Portions of Independence Avenue Southwest, C Street Southwest, Washington Avenue Southwest, Second Street Southwest, D Street Southwest, 3rd Street, and 4th Street were shut down due to the bomb threat, police told WUSA-9.

It comes after Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) wrote on Twitter that Capitol Police responded to a suspicious package delivered to her office on Tuesday.

“Today our office received a package with a suspicious substance and a threat reading ‘The Patriarchy will rise again. Merry [expletive] Christmas,’” Omar alleged on Twitter. “Everyone on our team is okay. We reported the package to Capitol Police and they determined it to be safe.”

In a statement, the Capitol Police said that an on-site test of the substance found in the package was negative for hazardous materials.

Meanwhile, a California man was arrested last week after allegedly making death threats to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and his family, officials said.

“Tell [M.G.] to watch his back, tell him to watch his children,” the suspect in the case, Eugene Huelsman, allegedly said in reference to Gaetz, according to an indictment. “I’m coming for him … I’m gonna [expletive] kill him. I’m gonna put a bullet in you and I’m gonna put a bullet in one of your [expletive] kids too.”

Gaetz confirmed to Politico that he is the “M.G.” referenced in the indictment.

“An indictment was issued in May, and has now been unsealed the week after my criticism,” the Florida congressman said last week. “If they took our security seriously, they would arrest all of the people who violate federal law and the threats to kill us, not just some of them … I think that the Department of Justice is biased against Republicans.”