Update On White Powder Thought To Be Anthrax: Inmate Sent Them. Read More Below.
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Authorities: Inmate sent anthrax threats to courthouses
By Bill Estep and Dori Hjalmarson
Federal offices around Kentucky received letters Monday that contained anthrax threats, leading to lockdowns and safety checks in several places, authorities said.
The threats turned out to be false. Tests showed the letters contained no harmful substances, authorities said.
Mike Klein, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said he understood an inmate at the Big Sandy federal prison in Martin County mailed 25 to 50 letters.
Klein said that the letters he was familiar with said whoever opened them had been exposed to anthrax.
Klein said he was told the inmate later admitted the substance in the letters was Sweet 'N Low artificial sweetener.
A spokesperson from the prison was not available to confirm information about the inmate, including his name.
Letters arrived Monday at the federal courthouses in London, Frankfort and Pikeville.
Threatening letters also arrived at the offices of U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie in Bowling Green; John Yarmuth in Louisville; Geoff Davis in Northern Kentucky; and Ed Whitfield, according to the Associated Press.
It wasn't clear Monday that those letters came from the same source as those at the courthouses, though Davis' spokeswoman, Alexandra Haynes, said the letter to his office apparently came from a prison inmate.
A staffer in Guthrie's office opened one of the letters and immediately called authorities, said Guthrie's spokesman, Nate Hodson.
Officials said the letters had been turned over to the FBI.
Doug Baker, chief of the Somerset-Pulaski County Special Response Team, said U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers' office in Somerset received a similar threatening letter last week.
In Pikeville, Pike County emergency director Doug Tackett said several people who were exposed to the white substance were taken to Pikeville Medical Center as a precaution, but there were no reports of injury or illness.
The federal courthouse and adjoining post office were closed for about three hours Monday, Tackett said, but on-site tests conducted by a hazardous-materials team did not indicate that the white substance was a biological or chemical threat.
In London, threatening letters reached the clerks' office in the federal courthouse and an office used by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said Tiger Robinson, public-safety director in neighboring Pulaski County.
Editor's comment: I thought inmate mails were checked, or is it just incoming mails?
Authorities: Inmate sent anthrax threats to courthouses
By Bill Estep and Dori Hjalmarson
Federal offices around Kentucky received letters Monday that contained anthrax threats, leading to lockdowns and safety checks in several places, authorities said.
The threats turned out to be false. Tests showed the letters contained no harmful substances, authorities said.
Mike Klein, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said he understood an inmate at the Big Sandy federal prison in Martin County mailed 25 to 50 letters.
Klein said that the letters he was familiar with said whoever opened them had been exposed to anthrax.
Klein said he was told the inmate later admitted the substance in the letters was Sweet 'N Low artificial sweetener.
A spokesperson from the prison was not available to confirm information about the inmate, including his name.
Letters arrived Monday at the federal courthouses in London, Frankfort and Pikeville.
Threatening letters also arrived at the offices of U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie in Bowling Green; John Yarmuth in Louisville; Geoff Davis in Northern Kentucky; and Ed Whitfield, according to the Associated Press.
It wasn't clear Monday that those letters came from the same source as those at the courthouses, though Davis' spokeswoman, Alexandra Haynes, said the letter to his office apparently came from a prison inmate.
A staffer in Guthrie's office opened one of the letters and immediately called authorities, said Guthrie's spokesman, Nate Hodson.
Officials said the letters had been turned over to the FBI.
Doug Baker, chief of the Somerset-Pulaski County Special Response Team, said U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers' office in Somerset received a similar threatening letter last week.
In Pikeville, Pike County emergency director Doug Tackett said several people who were exposed to the white substance were taken to Pikeville Medical Center as a precaution, but there were no reports of injury or illness.
The federal courthouse and adjoining post office were closed for about three hours Monday, Tackett said, but on-site tests conducted by a hazardous-materials team did not indicate that the white substance was a biological or chemical threat.
In London, threatening letters reached the clerks' office in the federal courthouse and an office used by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said Tiger Robinson, public-safety director in neighboring Pulaski County.
Editor's comment: I thought inmate mails were checked, or is it just incoming mails?
Labels: Public safety
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:50 PM
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