California state Capitol evacuated amid threat

Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times on Oct 2, 2026

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California's state Capitol was evacuated Friday morning after construction crews in the west wing of the building reported a threat to authorities, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP officials said in a written statement that it was aware of the threat but provided no further details.

"As a precaution, the building has been evacuated while CHP sweeps the building," the statement read.

Photos shared on social media showed dozens of construction workers huddled together.

Also shared on social media was a copy of an email to the Senate staff from Erika Contreras, the secretary of the state Senate.

In it, she said that work crews as well as those working around the construction site were evacuated.

Employees in the legislative office building and in a nearby building temporarily used to house members of the Legislature, the governor and lieutenant governor were not affected, according to the email.

"At this point we have no reason to believe the threat is credible, however, CHP is on-site assessing the threat and conducting inspections of the area," the email read.

The Legislature is in recess and the 120 members of the state Senate and Assembly are in their districts.

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