Suspect arrested over ricin letters sent to Trump & Pentagon, ‘ex-Navy sailor’ reported culprit
Police in Logan, Utah have arrested a man suspected of sending letters that tested positive to biotoxin ricin to the Pentagon and the White House. The suspect is reportedly a former Navy sailor.
Envelopes addressed to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson tested positive for ricin contamination at the Pentagon mailroom on Monday. The Secret Service said on Tuesday that another suspicious letter was addressed to President Donald Trump, though they did not initially say it contained ricin.
The suspect was identified as William Clyde Allen III, Reuters reported citing federal law enforcement. It was earlier reported he’s a US Navy veteran.
The packages never actually made it into the Pentagon, but were intercepted at a remote mailroom in an adjacent building, after a tip from the White House. All mail to the Pentagon has been put under quarantine following the incident.
Similar packages were discovered on Tuesday at the Texas office of Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and at the White House, addressed to President Donald Trump. The Texas package was found to be safe, while law enforcement officials have not yet confirmed whether the package addressed to Trump contained ricin or any other poison.
Ricin is a highly toxic substance extracted from castor beans, and has figured prominently as a bioweapon in a number of foiled terrorist plots.
The most recent incident involving ricin-laced mail in Washington, DC was in April 2013, when a Mississippi man mailed envelopes with the toxin to Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and President Barack Obama.
The Pentagon’s remote mail facility was set up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent anthrax scare, to ensure that letters and packages can be screened for dangerous substances before they enter the Defense Department’s headquarters.
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