The Secret Service disclosed on Thursday, May 30,
2013 that authorities stopped a threatening letter addressed to President
Barack Obama that was similar to ones sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Letters sent to Bloomberg and his gun control group
contained material believed to be the deadly poison ricin and contained a
reference to gun control, New York police said on Wednesday. A Secret Service
official said the White House letter was similar but did not elaborate.
Authorities have stopped several ricin-laced letters
in recent weeks. A Tupelo, Mississippi, man was charged last month with sending
poison-laced letters to Obama and two other public officials. Everett Dutschke
was being held on charges of developing and possessing ricin and attempting to
use it as a weapon, according to the Justice Department.
The White House mail screening facility turned the
letter over to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Secret Service
official said on condition of anonymity. Authorities also intercepted a letter
sent to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker that preliminary tests showed
contained ricin.
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