FBI Searches for Ricin Letter

Authorities say it is very unlikely that a ricin-laced letter would come into contact with the public

 

US authorities are looking for a letter addressed to the CIA and believed to contain traces of the poison ricin. The letter, posted to a CIA office that does not receive mail, has been linked to a man charged with sending a ricin letter to a judge, the FBI said. The man is also suspected of sending a ricin letter to President Barack Obama.
 

In separate cases, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and one of his aides, as well as a US senator, were sent ricin letters.  On the 22nd May, Matthew Buquet, 38, was arrested in Washington state and charged with sending one of the letters to federal judge Fred Van Sickle. Late on Thursday, the FBI in Seattle revealed it had linked ricin-laced letters addressed to a US post office and Mr Obama to Mr Buquet.
 

A fourth letter also linked to him, sent to the Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, is undergoing tests. The FBI said a fifth letter, addressed to the CIA but to an location that does not receive postal deliveries, had not been located.

"Active monitoring of the mail stream continues in an effort to locate this letter and mitigate any risk its contents might pose," the FBI said in a statement. It added in the unlikely event that a member of the public comes across the letter, it should not be opened and the authorities should be informed.

All four letters that have been located were postmarked in Spokane, Washington on 13 May and the addresses were handwritten in red ink. Mr Buquet's case represents the third in a recent spate of ricin letter threats in the aimed at Mr Obama and others.

In a second case, letters containing ricin were sent to Mr Bloomberg and a senior aide at his gun control advocacy group. A "similar" letter addressed to Mr Obama was also intercepted, authorities say. The mail addressed to Mr Bloomberg and his adviser contained a threat that the sender would "shoot in the face" anyone who tried to take away his or her guns.

Authorities have made no arrests in that case. In a third case, a Mississippi man has been charged with sending ricin-laced letters to Mr Obama, a judge and a Mississippi senator.Ricin is a naturally occurring protein found in the castor oil plant that is highly toxic. It is 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide. Ricin can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure
 

Letter sent to Barack Obama similar to Bloomberg threats

Obama's mail is carefully screened and the president was never in any danger

A suspicious letter sent to US President Barack Obama is "similar" to two poisoned letters mailed to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg this week, US officials have said.

The US Secret Service said the letter to Mr Obama was intercepted and was being tested by FBI investigators. The letters to Mr Bloomberg referred to his support for stricter gun control. One was delivered to the Washington DC office of Mr Bloomberg's gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Another man has been arrested in Washington state in connection with letters sent to a judge. On Thursday, the FBI confirmed another letter containing ricin was addressed to Mr Obama from the same location on the same day those messages were sent.

Mayor Bloomberg: "The letter referred to our anti-gun efforts but...we're not going to walk away"

 

Law enforcement officials have told US media that all three letters were marked as having been sorted in a facility in Shreveport, Louisiana. A Louisiana State Police spokeswoman said the Shreveport postal centre handled mail from Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, so the letter could have come from any of those states.

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters on Thursday he believed that the letter addressed to Mr Obama was identical to those sent to Mr Bloomberg. According to Mr Kelly, the letters contained a threat to "shoot in the face" anyone who came for the sender's guns.

Civilian personnel who came into contact with the letters experienced no symptoms. Minor symptoms in emergency workers who handled the letter at the sorting facility for the mayor's office "have since abated", the New York Police Department said in a statement.

Mayor Bloomberg is one of the most prominent proponents of stricter gun control laws in the US. The firearms debate divides Americans and has leapt to the top of the political agenda since 26 people were killed in a school shooting in Connecticut in December.