Reports: Ricin-laced letters threaten gun violence

David Jackson, Kevin Johnson and John Bacon | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Ricin Letters Addressed to Bloomberg Threatening letters containing deadly poison sent to NYC mayor. Powered by NewsLook.com

Letter sent to Obama similar to those sent New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a gun-control group

Second letter to Obama came from Spokane%2C Wash.

Three New York police officers involved in the case experienced minor symptom of ricin exposure.

WASHINGTON — President Obama was sent a threatening letter that was intercepted this week and similar to the ricin-tainted letters mailed to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his gun-control group, the Secret Service said Thursday.

The Secret Service "can confirm that the White House mail screening facility intercepted a letter addressed to the White House ... similar to letters previously addressed to Mayor Bloomberg in New York. This letter has been turned over to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force for testing and investigation," the agency said.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said all presidential mail is examined at the off-site facility.

"We have precautions in place for these kinds of things," Earnest said.

The letter to Obama was discovered Wednesday. Federal officials close to the investigation said there had been a heightened sense of alert because of the Bloomberg letters. They said the Obama letter appeared to have the same postmark and handwriting as the ones sent to Bloomberg and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, based in Washington.

The Obama letter was not opened before it was shipped out for testing, the officials said.

Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., said in a CNN interview that law enforcement officials had told him all three letters "are virtually identical," cautioning that the investigation was still in its early stages.

The other letters, postmarked May 20 in Shreveport, La., were opened in New York on Friday at the city's mail facility in Manhattan and in Washington on Sunday at an office of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the same machine or computer had produced the two letters to Bloomberg and the similar one to Obama and that they may be identical.

Meanwhile, the FBI announced Thursday another letter with the poison ricin had been mailed to Obama from Spokane, Wash., and was intercepted May 22. Authorities have arrested a man in Spokane in connection with that letter.

CNN, citing a source with knowledge of the letters to Bloomberg and his gun-control group, said those letters include this:

"You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face. The right to bear arms is my constitutional God-given right and I will exercise that right till the day I die."

Bloomberg said the letters "referred to our anti-gun efforts, but there's 12,000 people that are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 that are going to commit suicide with guns, and we're not going to walk away from those efforts."

Bloomberg said he didn't "feel threatened."

New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne would not confirm the language in the letters, but he said the "subject matter was gun-owner rights and they contained the same threatening language."

The letters addressed to Bloomberg and Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, both tested positive for ricin, Browne said. More testing was scheduled.

Three New York officers involved in the case experienced mild diarrhea Saturday, a minor symptom of ricin exposure, Browne said. In Washington, Glaze showed no symptoms after opening that letter, the group said.

Bloomberg ranks among the nation's most outspoken gun-control advocates. Mayors Against Illegal Guns was co-founded in 2006 by Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who serve as its co-chairs. It claims a membership of more than 850 mayors in 44 states.

Shreveport (La.) Mayor Cedric Glover said Shreveport police are working with the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force to determine who sent the letters and where the ricin came from.

"We are also taking the necessary steps to protect United States Postal Service ... as well as any of our citizens from any potential harm,'' Glover said.

Ricin naturally occurs in castor beans and can be fatal if inhaled or ingested. Ricin-tainted threats have been sent recently to Obama, lawmakers and judges.

Last week, a Washington state man was accused of including ricin in a death threat mailed to a federal judge. Matthew Buquet, 38, of Spokane, was being held without bond.

In late April, a Mississippi man was arrested on charges of mailing poisoned letters to Obama, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and an 80-year-old judge in Tupelo, Miss. The FBI said Everett Dutschke, 41, bought castor bean seeds online late last year. Agents found traces of ricin on several objects retrieved from trash at his Tupelo home and near his martial-arts studio.

Contributing: Michael Winter; Kristi Johnston, shreveporttimes.com; Associated Press