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| Letters Threatening Mayor and Referring to Gun Control Test Positive for Ricin | |
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| Two letters that contained threats to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg — one addressed to him, the other to a lobbyist who works on his gun control campaign — have tested positive for the deadly poison ricin, the authorities said on Wednesday. | Two letters that contained threats to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg — one addressed to him, the other to a lobbyist who works on his gun control campaign — have tested positive for the deadly poison ricin, the authorities said on Wednesday. |
| The first letter was opened at a New York City mail center in Lower Manhattan on Friday, the police said. Although staff members at the mail center do not appear to have become ill, several police officers who came into contact with the letter’s contents “indicated some mild symptoms the next day, including diarrhea,” and they are being treated in hospitals, the New York Police Department’s spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said on Wednesday afternoon. “They’re being checked out as a precaution.” | The first letter was opened at a New York City mail center in Lower Manhattan on Friday, the police said. Although staff members at the mail center do not appear to have become ill, several police officers who came into contact with the letter’s contents “indicated some mild symptoms the next day, including diarrhea,” and they are being treated in hospitals, the New York Police Department’s spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said on Wednesday afternoon. “They’re being checked out as a precaution.” |
| The second letter, which was opened on Sunday in Washington, was addressed to Mark Glaze, the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group Mr. Bloomberg helps run and finances, officials said. Mr. Glaze opened the letter, an official said. No injuries were reported, Mr. Browne said. | The second letter, which was opened on Sunday in Washington, was addressed to Mark Glaze, the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group Mr. Bloomberg helps run and finances, officials said. Mr. Glaze opened the letter, an official said. No injuries were reported, Mr. Browne said. |
| Both letters were identical in content, bore references to the debate over gun regulation and contained written threats to Mayor Bloomberg, Mr. Browne said. “It’s threatening, and it’s very clearly about one issue,” one official said of the letters. | |
| Both letters had a Louisiana postmark, said one official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. Earlier, Mr. Browne said that “something about the way it was addressed” raised suspicion about the letter sent to New York. | |
| A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Peter Donald, confirmed that the bureau was investigating the letters, but declined to comment further. | |
| The letters contained a “pink, orange oily substance,” Mr. Browne said, which tested positive for ricin on Wednesday at the National Bioforensic Analysis Center in Maryland. Earlier tests, performed locally, also indicated ricin, Mr. Browne said. | The letters contained a “pink, orange oily substance,” Mr. Browne said, which tested positive for ricin on Wednesday at the National Bioforensic Analysis Center in Maryland. Earlier tests, performed locally, also indicated ricin, Mr. Browne said. |
| Ricin can be made from castor beans, and a quantity as small as a grain of salt can be lethal if ingested. | Ricin can be made from castor beans, and a quantity as small as a grain of salt can be lethal if ingested. |
| Mr. Browne said the Police Department, whose Intelligence Division is investigating the case along with the F.B.I., has handled “scores, if not hundreds” of emergency calls involving suspicious powders over the years. But since the anthrax attacks of 2001, Mr. Browne said, “each of those cases have been negative,” until this one. | Mr. Browne said the Police Department, whose Intelligence Division is investigating the case along with the F.B.I., has handled “scores, if not hundreds” of emergency calls involving suspicious powders over the years. But since the anthrax attacks of 2001, Mr. Browne said, “each of those cases have been negative,” until this one. |
| Questioned about the letters on Wednesday night, Mayor Bloomberg said: “There’s 12,000 people that are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 that are going to commit suicide with guns, and we’re not going to walk away from those efforts. And I know I speak for all of the close to 1,000 mayors,” in Mayors Against Illegal Guns, he said. “This is a scourge on the country that we just have to make sure that we get under control and eliminate.” | Questioned about the letters on Wednesday night, Mayor Bloomberg said: “There’s 12,000 people that are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 that are going to commit suicide with guns, and we’re not going to walk away from those efforts. And I know I speak for all of the close to 1,000 mayors,” in Mayors Against Illegal Guns, he said. “This is a scourge on the country that we just have to make sure that we get under control and eliminate.” |
| In April, a former taekwondo instructor from Tupelo, Miss., was arrested on charges of sending ricin-laced letters to the president, a United States senator and a local judge. The letters sent to Washington were intercepted in mail sorting facilities serving the White House and the Capitol. | In April, a former taekwondo instructor from Tupelo, Miss., was arrested on charges of sending ricin-laced letters to the president, a United States senator and a local judge. The letters sent to Washington were intercepted in mail sorting facilities serving the White House and the Capitol. |
| This month, a 37-year old man was charged with sending a ricin-laced letter to a federal district judge in Spokane, Washington. That letter was discovered during screening, before it was delivered to the judge, Reuters reported. | This month, a 37-year old man was charged with sending a ricin-laced letter to a federal district judge in Spokane, Washington. That letter was discovered during screening, before it was delivered to the judge, Reuters reported. |
J. David Goodman contributed reporting. | J. David Goodman contributed reporting. |