Letter posted to Obama contains deadly ricin
Source: Agencies |
April 18, 2013, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Letters sent to President Barack Obama and a Mississippi senator that tested positive for poisonous ricin are related and both are postmarked Memphis, Tennessee, the FBI said yesterday. A senator said police have a suspect in mind.
News that the letter to Obama was being investigated came as a flurry of other reports of suspicious letters and a package caused the evacuation of parts of two Senate buildings and set nerves in Washington on edge.
The letter contained "a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin," an FBI statement said.
But the statement added: "There is no indication of a connection to the attack in Boston," where three people were killed in bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday.
The US Secret Service said the letter to Obama was received at a mail screening facility on Tuesday.
The mail facility that received the letter was not located near the White House itself, Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said.
"The Secret Service is working closely with the US Capitol Police and the FBI in this investigation," Donovan said.
Parts of the Russell and Hart Senate office buildings were cleared while officials investigated suspicious letters and a package, a Capitol police spokesman said.
CNN read a statement from a spokesman to Senator Richard Shelby, saying that Capitol police were investigating a suspicious package that had been delivered to their office.
The FBI says the letters sent to President Barack Obama and a US senator are related and are both postmarked out of Memphis, Tennessee, dated April 8.
In an intelligence bulletin, the FBI says the letters both say: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance." Both letters are signed, "I am KC and I approve this message."
The FBI says the substance in both letters have preliminarily tested positive for ricin, a potentially fatal poison.
Both the letters to Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican, and to Obama were intercepted at off-site mail facilities.
The FBI says it is pursuing investigative leads to determine who sent the letters.
Tensions have been high in Washington and across the country since the deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon. Last night there were reports that a suspect had been identified.
News that the letter to Obama was being investigated came as a flurry of other reports of suspicious letters and a package caused the evacuation of parts of two Senate buildings and set nerves in Washington on edge.
The letter contained "a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin," an FBI statement said.
But the statement added: "There is no indication of a connection to the attack in Boston," where three people were killed in bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday.
The US Secret Service said the letter to Obama was received at a mail screening facility on Tuesday.
The mail facility that received the letter was not located near the White House itself, Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said.
"The Secret Service is working closely with the US Capitol Police and the FBI in this investigation," Donovan said.
Parts of the Russell and Hart Senate office buildings were cleared while officials investigated suspicious letters and a package, a Capitol police spokesman said.
CNN read a statement from a spokesman to Senator Richard Shelby, saying that Capitol police were investigating a suspicious package that had been delivered to their office.
The FBI says the letters sent to President Barack Obama and a US senator are related and are both postmarked out of Memphis, Tennessee, dated April 8.
In an intelligence bulletin, the FBI says the letters both say: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance." Both letters are signed, "I am KC and I approve this message."
The FBI says the substance in both letters have preliminarily tested positive for ricin, a potentially fatal poison.
Both the letters to Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican, and to Obama were intercepted at off-site mail facilities.
The FBI says it is pursuing investigative leads to determine who sent the letters.
Tensions have been high in Washington and across the country since the deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon. Last night there were reports that a suspect had been identified.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
