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'Threatening' letter, powdery substance sent to Durham police chief
The Durham Police Department is investigating a suspicious letter that was addressed to Chief of Police Patrice Andrews Tuesday morning.
The Durham Police Department is investigating a suspicious letter that was addressed to Chief of Police Patrice Andrews Tuesday morning.
At around 7:15 a.m., a letter addressed to Andrews was opened in the chief's office suite. Police said the letter contained a threatening message and powdery substance.
The Durham Fire Department responded and tested the substance. It did not test positive for any known harmful substance.
The DPD Forensics Unit collected the substance and the police department is investigating the source of the letter. Police said there is no known threat to the safety of the police staff and the public.
Andrews has recently been at the center of scrutiny after posts she made on her private Facebook social media about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
https://www.wral.com/news/local/durham-police-chief-scrutiny-deleted-post-charlie-kirk-september-2025/
“I won't stop being outraged at the way this man is being honored by people that I thought I knew,” Andrews wrote in the deleted post. “This man, who disguised himself as a Christian, shamed Black women like me, believed that gun violence was necessary to preserve the 2nd amendment, and created a culture of divisiveness through hate speech."
In the now-deleted Facebook post on her personal page, Andrews said she's outraged by people she knows who still support Kirk.
“I won't stop being outraged at the way this man is being honored by people that I thought I knew,” Andrews wrote in the deleted post. “This man, who disguised himself as a Christian, shamed Black women like me, believed that gun violence was necessary to preserve the 2nd amendment, and created a culture of divisiveness through hate speech."
One of Kirk's comments about Black women came on Jan. 3, 2024, on his podcast when he said: “If I'm dealing with somebody in customer service who's a moronic Black woman, I don't – I wonder is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because affirmative action? It almost creates thought patterns that are not necessarily wholesome. It creates resentment, doesn't it? This is not a way to design society.”
Andrews wrote, "So, at the time of his death, I chose to give him the empathy that he didn't believe in and certainly didn't believe that people like me deserved. But to know many of you STILL support him despite his horrible rhetoric.. I cannot.”
Durham public officials, including Mayor Leonardo Williams, voiced their backing for Andrews, stating that freedom of is speech is accessible to all.
https://www.wral.com/news/local/suspicious-threatening-letter-durham-police-chief-sept-2025/