“An envelope sent to a U.S. Sen. has tested positive for an extremely toxin poison,” the Denver Post reports:
An envelope sent to a senator has tested positive for ricin, an extremely toxic poison, according to various news outlets. Mail sent to members of Congress is routinely tested before it’s allowed into the Capitol, and has been routinely tested since anthrax was sent to a members of the media and lawmakers in 2001. Politico is reporting that it was sent to Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
“U.S. Capitol police on Tuesday intercepted an envelope addressed to a Senate office after finding that it had tested positive for the toxic substance ricin,” the Huffington Post adds.
Update: The letter-sender has been IDed, according to the Politico. Ace adds:
Apparently he writes to lawmakers a lot. The article does not say if he’s kookoo or not. But, just playing the odds, he’s probably not writing thank-you letters.
Ricin has been used by Al Qaeda — but it had also been planned to be used by “geriatric militiamen” from [Georgia] in 2011.
Al Qaeda Suspected in the Bomb Plot… by federal investigators, but they have no good evidence supporting that hunch yet.
It is noteworthy that Al Qaeda has not claimed credit– they’ve always before wanted publicity. But who knows, perhaps this is a new strategy of sowing doubt and discord, leaving their ownership of an atrocity up to public debate.
Update: Although it was claimed that the letter was tested three times, and showed positive for ricin three times, in fact a guy on CNN is now saying it showed 1 positive, 1 negative, and 1 inconclusive.
Update: Post-terrorist attack jitters?
CNN guest says he has intel that 2 of the 3 tests for ricin came back negative/inconclusive.
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) April 16, 2013
As Doug Powers writes, “We’ll wait for confirmation from the Maryland lab.”
Related: NYPD Responds To 77 Reports Of Suspicious Packages In 24 Hours, CBS New York reports.
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