"Hazardous Material"Possible Ricin found in Senate

[MetalBoy]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/02/02/senate.hazardous/index.html

Hmm... if this is legit it seems to me just a way to get publicity and freak people out. I could think of much better ways to kill alot of people using a small amount of ricin other than mailing it in a letter. Substitute mailroom with cafeteria, now that would be scary.

[cut]

:cantbeli: can't keep terrorists out of the senate? what is the world coming to? :P

[George W. Bush]

Some Jihadi's brilliant terrorist plot to kill the Senate. We're not dealing with very smart people here.

[EvanL]

The bush daughters must have dropped some of their stash. rofl

[He219]

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20040203/i/r3934493694.jpg
U.S. Capitol Policemen dressed in biochemical hazard gear check their gas masks as they make their way into an elevator at the Dirksen Senate Building in Washington, February 2, 2004. The white substance found in U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's mailroom tested positive for ricin in a field test, CNN reported, citing a Department of Homeland Security official. Ricin is a deadly toxin derived from castor beans. Local news reports said the substance was contained in a letter and that the 4th floor of the Dirksen had been shut down.


Senate Powder Tests Positive for Ricin (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20040203/ap_on_re_us/capitol_suspicious_powder)

WASHINGTON - Preliminary tests of a white powder discovered in a Senate office building Monday were positive for the potentially deadly poison ricin, the U.S. Capitol Police chief said.

Two out of three tests indicate ricin, Chief Terrance Gainer said at a late-evening news conference. The third test came out negative, and a fourth, more definitive test was under way, with results expected Tuesday.

Sixteen people who were on the floor where an envelope containing the white powder was discovered were being decontaminated and allowed to go home, Gainer said.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., also at the news conference, said no symptoms were reported. "Everybody's fine" and there is "no cause for alarm," he said.

"Nobody is sick, we don't expect anybody to get sick," said Frist, a surgeon before his election to the Senate.

The envelope was discovered at about 3 p.m. in a mail room on the fourth floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Gainer said.

A government official said earlier that tests were being conducted at Fort Detrick in Maryland, with more definitive results expected by Tuesday. Gainer refused to say where the testing was taking place.

Authorities do not know if the substance was found on letter or package, the chief said.

:|

[George W. Bush]

Oh man this is sad. I hope Bill Frist is ok.

The Democrats probably placed it there