Professor Leading Persky Recall Sent Rape Threat, Suspicious Powder
STANFORD (CBS SF) -- The Stanford University professor responsible for leading the Recall Judge Aaron Persky campaign received a package in the mail Wednesday with a rape threat and an unknown white substance, according to a statement she released.
Stanford Public Safety officials shut down several rooms in the Neukom Building around 1:20 p.m. as a precaution after a faculty member received an unknown white substance in an envelope.
The student who opened the letter quickly put it in a ziplock bag, washed their hands and called police.
The envelope was addressed to Stanford Law School Professor Michele Dauber and contained a note reportedly related to the Brock Turner sexual assault case and the effort to recall Judge Aaron Persky.
The text of the threat said, "Since you are going to disrobe Persky, I am going to treat you like Emily Doe."
Emily Doe is the pseudonym given to the victim in the Brock Turner sexual assault case.
Officials said shortly after 3 p.m. that tests showed the powder was harmless, but they were continuing to investigate who may be behind the threat.
Sources tell KPIX 5 the envelope might have contained baby powder.
Wednesday's threat used exactly the same wording from the mailed rape threat Dauber received last week, but that time the envelope was filled with glitter.
Dauber said this is not the first time that she has received a rape threat focused around her role in the recall campaign for the judge who drew controversy when he sentenced former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to six months in county jail in 2016 for the sexual assault of an unconscious woman.
Dauber said she has gotten dozens of threats for her to lose her job or get raped herself.
"The recall campaign is not going to be intimidated. We are going to continue to stand with sex assault survivors. We will continue our campaign," Dauber told KPIX 5. "And I really call upon Judge Persky's campaign to stop the personal attacks on me and Emily Doe and accept the electoral process and participate in it fairly."
The decision on whether to recall Persky will go in front of voters on June 5 after the campaign led by Dauber collected more than 94,000 signatures to qualify it for the ballot.
Despite the threat, Dauber kept on teaching instead of canceling her class for the day.
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