494
Russell C. Coile
1984: The Rajneesh used salmonella to try to poison people eating in a
restaurant in rural Oregon in an effort to make some voters sick so that the
Rajneesh could win an election.
1991: The Minnesota Patriots Council were making ricin, a potent toxin, for
use against rural law enforcement offi cers.
1995: An extremist named Thomas Lavy was arrested in rural Arkansas for
brewing up a signifi cant amount of ricin.
1996: Thomas Leahy in Janesville, Wisconsin produced ricin and was
attempting to produce botulinum.
1997: A petri dish marked `anthracis' was delivered to the B'nai B'rith
(Jewish Service organization) offi ce in Washington, D.C. The dish was
actually a harmless bacteria closely related to anthrax. The response
involved closing off two blocks of the downtown area and decontamination
of dozens of people.
1998 July: Three men were arrested in rural Texas for conspiring to
use several biological agents in a bizarre scheme against IRS and law
enforcement personnel.
1998 February: Larry Wayne Harris, a former member of the Aryan
Nation, a white supremacist organization was arrested in Las Vegas,
Nevada with several bags of a substance marked `anthrax.' He was
released when the substance was determined to be a harmless form of
anthrax.
1998 June: Three men were arrested in Olmito, Texas for threatening to
kill federal agents and state offi cials with biological agents. They claimed
to represent the Republic of Texas, a militant organization which claims
sovereignty over Texas.
1998 August: A white powder was spread through several fl oors of the
Finney State Offi ce Building in Wichita, Kansas. A letter at the scene falsely
claimed the powder was anthrax. A letter sent by a white supremacist
`Christian identity' group calling itself the Brothers of Freedom of Americans
to a local television claimed responsibility.
1999: Numerous letters containing a white powder, labeled `anthrax'
were sent to abortion clincs and various other organizations. Initially, the
response included securing the building and decontaminating all people
who had come in contact with the letter while the powder was sent by air
courier to the FBI Terrorism Lab in Quantico, Virginia. After analysis, these
were all determined to be hoaxes.
Summary :
1998 February: Larry Wayne Harris, a former member of the Aryan Nation, a white supremacist organization was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada with several bags of a substance marked `anthrax.' He was released when the substance was determined to be a harmless form of anthrax. 1998 August: A white powder was spread through several fl oors of the Finney State Offi ce Building in Wichita, Kansas.
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