Seattle Ricin-Threats May Have Been Sent By Gay Person

Those of you who speculated that the sender of a letter to 11 gay bars in Seattle threatening that drinks will be poisoned with Ricin were sent by a gay man are on to something. The letter quotes the poem “A Display of Mackerel” by gay writer Mark Doty. The 1994 poem was written by Doty as a meditation on gay men who died because of AIDS. Doty tells Dan Savage, “I was trying to console myself and others, at least a little, for all we’d endured. So, it’s especially ugly for these words to be used against gay men.”



The Seattle Times reports:

“The FBI confirmed it was involved in the investigation but referred questions to a Seattle Police Department spokesman, who said the department is taking the threat seriously but declined to comment further on the investigation. Josh Friedes, of Equal Rights Washington, said he is pleased by the seriousness with which law-enforcement and public officials seem to be taking the threat. Friedes said he will be urging people who patronize the bars to be “extra vigilant” with their drinks but that the threats will not curtail his own plans to go out to bars. The letter sent to bars quoted the poem “A Display of Mackerel” by gay writer Mark Doty, leading many to speculate the letters were written by someone who is gay or lesbian. The poem was recently published in his book “Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems,” which won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008. The letter mimics the poem in the line, “The targets won’t care much that they’ll be dead and nearly frozen, just as, presumably, they didn’t care that they were living.”

It’s nice to hear that the FBI is taking the case seriously as whoever sent the letters is quite literally, engaging in terrorism. That said, gay bar owners don’t expect the threats to keep away business.

“I don’t think this community is going to be scared to go out,” said Carla Schricker, owner of Re-bar, one of 11 gay bars that were threatened in the typewritten letters. Still, Schricker and many others have posted signs warning customers not to leave their drinks unattended. They also have asked staff to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior.”

Here is the full poem by Mark Doty: