E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSThreatening letters that claim to contain dangerous pathogens believed to have been mailed from Oregon were sent to U.S. lawmakers and media companies across the country, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.
The person sent letters to Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" and Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report," claiming more letters had been sent to 100 senators and various media companies, including The New York Times, Fox News and NPR law enforcement officials said.
But a federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that fewer than 10 members of Congress had received letters.
A GOP aide told NBC News that one of House Speaker John Boehner's district offices received mail Tuesday containing a powdery substance that proved to be harmless.
Kirotv.com, a Seattle station, reported that Sen. Patty Murray's office confirmed receiving a letter at the senator's office on the 29th floor of Seattle's downtown federal building.
KITV.com in Honolulu reported that a letter with suspicious substance was received at the federal building there. Fire crews used field equipment to test the letter for contaminants and found it wasn't toxic. They gave the letter to the FBI for more testing.
The letters, which were postmarked from Portland, Ore., contain threats claiming that 10 percent of the envelopes had dangerous pathogens. Officials said the writer voices anger over corporate greed and the state of the U.S. economy. The letters are signed "MAB."
The address given — 2413 NW Burnside, ZIP code 97209 — does not exist.
At least two of the letters contained a suspicious powdery substance, authorities said. Tests found the substance to be harmless, according to a statement by Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer, the chamber's chief law enforcement officer.
Officials stressed that so far there is no evidence a dangerous substance has been sent. They point out there have been numerous hoax mailings in the years since the 2001 anthrax attacks.
Gainer said offices should be on alert because "the author of the letters has indicated that additional letters containing a powdery substance will be arriving at more Senate offices and that some of these letters may contain an actual harmful material."
Senate staff are being warned to look out for letters postmarked Portland, Ore.
New York authorities, meanwhile, are reaching out to security officials at major media companies.
The FBI in Oregon has been contacted to try to help track whoever sent the threatening mail.
This article includes reporting by NBC News and Reuters.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
- Devil in the details: Santorum hardly alone in belief in Satan
- Are Latino voters a missed 2012 opportunity for Republicans?
- Marine makes last stand in foreclosed home
- Trouble on the ranch: Cattle rustling on the rise in Texas
Leave a Comment:
is there no limit to what the deranged Democrats will do for their Furor? The OWS are their dirty work people.
If this were OWS, they would not have first targeted the Daily Show then Fox. This looks like your run of the mill non-political psycho.
Why do these letters actually have to make it to the office? Can't they be intercepted at the local post office before they're sent out? At least stop and scan the ones from oregon. By intercepting them at the post office, the FBI can actually quarantine them without infecting an office full of workers.
Boehner was a little worried.
He had already snorted it all.
.
Cygnus_X-1
The truth is they do get scanned at least two times. How is this done, I shall tell you.
The raw mail comes into the mail processing center. It is then dumped onto a conveyor belt. It then goes through Another machine for separation ( that is where the first air samples are taken ) . Then it moves to the face-or cancelers. From there off to the O.C.R.s . Second air sample is taken there. Both machines are set up to detect drugs, anthrax, and a host of other nasty stuff. The Post Office has been sampling ( sniffing ) for this type of thing for a good number of years. Ever since the anthrax letters were first mailed out.
bob
I forgot to mention:
The Post Office also looks over the letter mail and parcels. They are look for anything unusual or spacious ( A.K.A. letter or parcel bombs ). You might say the P.O. is part of home land security.
bob
Kansas: I didn't really read the article either, but I'm sure it's Obama's fault
I wonder what the detection limit for the Anthrax detectors are these are hardly routinely installed as from what I can gather they cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Also how long do they take to process the test?
kansasfsdafsdafsadf - Dude, go outside. Breathe some air. Step away from the Fox News.
Bending over backwards to try to work with people who utterly hate you, even incorporating ideas THEY came up with and sponsored, does not a "dictator" make. Oh yeah, and trying to make sure everyone has access to healthcare, and treating immigrants like they're real people is hardly what you could call acting like der Fuhrer. You really need to stop blindly following your biases and ask some questions when the Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh types spout this crap.
"furor"
lol.
wow with voters like dingle, we as a nation are in trouble.
Inform urselves rather than be brainwashed.
Exactly, it should be "fuhrer"
@Richard Small,
If you read dingle's comment - you'll notice it's actually a witty, backhanded remark to Kansas. He's basically just saying Kansas is posting without having read the article.
Sullyness,
Are you talking legal or illegal immigrants? There is a huge difference you know. Legal immigrants are more than welcomed in this country but illegal immigrants can GTFO OF HERE and now. The American public is not going to stand for another politically motivated amnesty charge in order to buy votes with the taxpayers money and the citizens employment!
Boehner was a little worried.
He had already snorted it all.
.
there will be crying
Silly wannabe-terrorist -- the Senate are the pathogens.
Why would they send one to Colbert? What has he ever done to anyone, except poke fun at Bush?
Because this is the natural outcome of the fascist right rhetoric. Clearly someone wants to get rid of people he/she/them whatever don't agree with. Probably Conservative, probably Teaparty, probably considers themselves Christian. Probably talks a lot about freedom and patriotism.
LMAO...NC, I'm just curious to know what brand of crystal ball you use. It must be a cheap one, it seems to be giving totally incorrect information.
NC, easy to tell who you hate. You must be an obama supporter. Figures, you seem exceptionally stupid.
It's refreshing to see someone who feels disenfranchised by both the left and the right.
Yep, neither party really cares about the people, they only care about getting reelected and telling their constituents whatever they think they want to hear to further their own agenda.
@!$%# will get ugly real fast if the nation continues down the path it is on now.
you mean with jobs and the stock market coming back? that path?
We need more suckers like you to believe in the current stock market rally, please keep buying for a few more months.
i guess i shouldn't believe that the dow is at 13,000, because it obviously is not.
13,000...ha and It was never at 6,000 either. da
I am very surprised that more of these types of attacks aren't happening with the raping of the American poor and working class. Our Entitled government officials believe that they have a blank check to continue spending OUR money on their "work trips", paychecks, golden parachute health and retirement plans, frivolous pork projects, and unwarranted wars. If we even think of limiting their spending, they just cut our essential programs to teach us a lesson. There is no way that they will give up the money that they think is theirs now. Its like trying to take a carcass from hungry wolves. They continue to raise our taxes both from the front end like payrolls, and then increase from the middle and back end like from sales and hidden taxes, all while letting our roads and neighborhoods spoil and rot.
They campaign on spineless promises that they are going to fix everything, then turn a blind eye to those same promises, and most of the time do the opposite of them. It all depends on how it enriches them both monetarily and politically. They are nothing but professional liars and thieves that should be tried for treason and properly sentenced. None of this will ever happen though, as they have pretty much attained absolute power over the legal American citizens by holding us and our jobs hostage by allowing illegal immigrants in and sending our manufacturing jobs overseas. They make it look good by showing us how much more "stuff" we can buy, but forget to show us how our wages and jobs have disappeared to buy that "stuff' with. The only ones that it has truly benefited has been the wealthy, the same people that occupy our upper government positions and control the policies that benefit themselves. Just look at the insider trading that has and will continue to go on in our congress.
While I would like to see the day that our government is held accountable for their crimes, I am sure it will not happen. They will continue to bankrupt our country and converge the wealth upon themselves so they can continue to buy up our homes and rent them back to us.
Good grief! you are so right. The only way we will ever get this government back to we the people, is to start a new government. Start our own factories paid for by the middle and poor class. Build and run our own distilleries. Grow and market our own food, etc, etc. But, you and i both know this will never happen. It wont because everyone of us will have to get involved in someway, and there are alot that wont want to change. Not even if its for the better. Alas, and woe is me!!!
It will just give these crooks/lawmakers a reason to take more of our rights. I'm sure it''s just part of their plan.
Stay Very Afraid: Sounds Like A False Flag Operation In Run Up To A New War!
My guess is, Bonehead had most of it gone before the cops showed up? He probably thought it was one of his constituants sending him a thank you for killing the economy? Why would you do something stupid like this?? The F.B.I. the N.S.A, the C.I.A. every law enforcement agency around will be looking for you. And the bad part? You will probably be caught. What a maroon!!!!!
The right wing nuts are getting desperate. It is looking like Obama is on the rise, and they are losing it.
"Obama is on the rise"? I don't think it's Obama that's doing the rising. LOL! Left wing fecal-head loon!
Old Sarge, right wings nuts, huh? Then why did Boehner get a letter? Think about it.
Well it is hard to imagine that any letter mailed by a human being doesn't contain pathogens. If you touched, breathed on it, or licked the envelope or the stamp, you put pathogens on it.
Sounds like some blowhard trying to make noise. Or maybe it's some guy that designed some radiation machine to kill germs on mail!
This is much more than a prank it is a warning. I wonder why the press was denied or could not report all the names of people and offices that were sent this mail.
Likely story... the weeper of the house probably thought either the "Koch boys" or Karl (the maniac) Rove sent him a tidy package of coke. Who cares about him. He is bought & paid for by the above mentioned & cares nothing for the 99%. Frig him.
Why send the letters to our thoughtful politicians, their on our side the poor and middle class...HAHAHA... What a joke, right???
It appears the group wants us to know that the biochemical terrorism may be ready soon as the letters have sent via mail.
Hope that the authority will find germ factory.
It was probably in retaliation for signing on to NDAA and FAA reauthorization...the treasonous douchebags!
Congress appreciates them. But theirs are better....antibiotic resistant strains.
they always want to be the story. the hero, the decider, the omnipotent. enjoy!
Sounds like someone is trying to discredit OWS, and the left to me. How obvious sending threatening letters that surely will make the news. If I had to guess, its probably a far right Republican kook. Yes it could possible be a far left kook aswell. But either way, its a kook who is responsible.
Hopefully the person left traces of themselves on the letters and they track it back to the culprit.
Rather interesting that some nut hasn't done this sooner and to a greater extent. Desperation breeds dangerous behavior. God knows some people are desperate.
That was Cocaine. Meant for Obama. Send it back!
That's why I stick to e-mail and instant messages....can't get anthrax from those....yet