# Ricin Intercepted On The Way To The White House



## kkwd (19 Sep 2020)

A letter was intercepted that was bound for the White House that possibly contained ricin. It appears it originated in Canada. There are several more sent to Texas apparently from the same sender. 
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/19/politics/package-poison-ricin-addressed-to-trump-intercepted/index.html



> (CNN)A package containing the poison ricin and addressed to President Donald Trump was intercepted by law enforcement earlier this week, according to two law enforcement officials.
> Two tests were done to confirm the presence of ricin. All mail for the White House is sorted and screened at an offsite facility before reaching the White House.
> A US law enforcement official told CNN that investigators are looking into the possibility the ricin package sent to Trump came from Canada.
> Mary-Liz Power, chief spokeswoman for Canada's Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair, said in a statement, "We are aware of the concerning reports of packages containing ricin directed toward US federal government sites. Canadian law enforcement is working closely with their US counterparts. As this is an active investigation we cannot comment further."
> ...


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## brihard (19 Sep 2020)

Ricin in the mail is some serious amateur hour nonsense. Do you want INSET? Because that’s how you get INSET.


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## CBH99 (19 Sep 2020)

Brihard said:
			
		

> Ricin in the mail is some serious amateur hour nonsense. Do you want INSET? Because that’s how you get INSET.




 :rofl:   :facepalm:

They don't sound particularly sophisticated...


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## tomahawk6 (19 Sep 2020)

The Postal Service caught the letter in their sniffing machine. A good thing for everyone.


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## blacktriangle (19 Sep 2020)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> The Postal Service caught the letter in their sniffing machine. A good thing for everyone.



At least you guys have modern technology. In some less-developed countries, the "sniffing machine" is probably a position title, and not a piece of equipment.

God bless the USA!


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## observor 69 (20 Sep 2020)

La lettre empoisonnée proviendrait de Montréal

La lettre empoisonnée destinée à Donald Trump qui a été interceptée la semaine dernière avant de se rendre à la Maison-Blanche aurait transitée par Montréal.

https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2020/09/20/la-lettre-empoisonnee-proviendrait-de-montreal

Some more uptodate info.


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## tomahawk6 (20 Sep 2020)

The mail sniffers were introduced several years ago when ricin letters were found. The machine was installed to protect people and mail employees. I know a county judge and even his mail is screened for death threats by folks he's put in jail to other types of threats.


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## Haggis (20 Sep 2020)

reveng said:
			
		

> In some less-developed countries, the "sniffing machine" is probably a position title, and not a piece of equipment.


 :rofl:

Ranks right up there with "Food Taster to the King'' in terms of risk.


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## QV (20 Sep 2020)

The Cdn professor and Trudeau advisor (allegedly) suggesting to burn congress down if POTUS appoints a SC justice is also not a good look.


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## Donald H (20 Sep 2020)

reveng said:
			
		

> At least you guys have modern technology. In some less-developed countries, the "sniffing machine" is probably a position title, and not a piece of equipment.
> 
> God bless the USA!



Good question! I would search out the toxicity on Ricin to find out if it's possible with the volume of mail sent to the president, but it's not a search I would like to have connected to my name, if you know what I mean.

Maybe somebody knows if it's possible? ppm? ppb?


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## Remius (20 Sep 2020)

Looks like an arrest has been made.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/20/politics/poison-ricin-addressed-trump-arrest/index.html


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## brihard (20 Sep 2020)

QV said:
			
		

> The Cdn professor and Trudeau advisor (allegedly) suggesting to burn congress down if POTUS appoints a SC justice is also not a good look.



Also completely irrelevant to the subject of the thread. Sorta seems like you’re trolling in order to take a partisan shot.


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## CBH99 (20 Sep 2020)

Remius said:
			
		

> Looks like an arrest has been made.
> 
> https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/20/politics/poison-ricin-addressed-trump-arrest/index.html




Mails a poisoned letter to the White House using regular mail, then a few days later tries to enter the US with a gun?   :facepalm:


I wish Covid only targeted really stupid people...


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## tomahawk6 (20 Sep 2020)

As President Trump has a duty to fill the vacancy and the Senate has its role to play.


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## Remius (20 Sep 2020)

CBH99 said:
			
		

> Mails a poisoned letter to the White House using regular mail, then a few days later tries to enter the US with a gun?   :facepalm:
> 
> 
> I wish Covid only targeted really stupid people...



Smart enough to make ricin.  But that’s seems to be where it ends lol. 

I bet she figured that her ricin plan failed she would just go the old fashioned way.  I mean, it worked for John Wilkes Booth right?


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## Navy_Pete (20 Sep 2020)

Remius said:
			
		

> Smart enough to make ricin.  But that’s seems to be where it ends lol.
> 
> I bet she figured that her ricin plan failed she would just go the old fashioned way.  I mean, it worked for John Wilkes Booth right?



Ricin is actually surprisingly easy to extract from castor beans and they sell castor plants for border plants as well as for the making castor oil at home (they have big green shiny leaves and look vaguely tropical). Unfortunately nature is full of really easy to harvest toxins and poisons (like nicotine or botulinum), but glad they have machines to detect this kind of stuff.

Not a Trump fan, but don't think murder is the way to go.


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## Donald H (20 Sep 2020)

Big question now is if she's a Canadian or an American?


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## brihard (20 Sep 2020)

I’m curious to find out whether the suspect is Canadian, American or both.


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## Weinie (20 Sep 2020)

Brihard said:
			
		

> I’m curious to find out whether the suspect is Canadian, American or both.



Or neither.

 :stirpot:


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## Remius (20 Sep 2020)

Brihard said:
			
		

> I’m curious to find out whether the suspect is Canadian, American or both.



Could be anyone.  What I would like to know is why she thought crossing a mostly closed border was a good idea. 

Legally owned gun? Brought in from the US the heading back? 

So many questions on this one.  But good on the border guys to have caught her.


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## blacktriangle (20 Sep 2020)

Weinie said:
			
		

> Or neither.
> 
> :stirpot:



That will be interesting to see. I also wonder what kind of firearm she had in her possession, was she a legal gun owner etc. 

Edited to add: Remius beat me to it, hopefully these are questions people demand answers to whether we like the answers or not.


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## QV (20 Sep 2020)

Brihard said:
			
		

> Also completely irrelevant to the subject of the thread. Sorta seems like you’re trolling in order to take a partisan shot.



I thought it was a pattern.


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## brihard (20 Sep 2020)

Remius said:
			
		

> Could be anyone.  What I would like to know is why she thought crossing a mostly closed border was a good idea.
> 
> Legally owned gun? Brought in from the US the heading back?
> 
> So many questions on this one.  But good on the border guys to have caught her.



Could be they were on to her and the border was an opportune time to make an arrest. Anyway, I expect a fair bit will come out over the week.


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## Remius (20 Sep 2020)

Letter seems to have gone through the Montreal distribution center.


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## tomahawk6 (21 Sep 2020)

Employees should be tested ASAP. The facility needs to be decontaminated just in case.


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## Remius (21 Sep 2020)

Police operation in Montreal is underway.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/police-operation-underway-south-of-montreal-related-to-ricin-sent-to-white-house-1.5113407


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## Donald H (21 Sep 2020)

Could also be the reason why it's taking so long is because they got the wrong person?


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## Blackadder1916 (21 Sep 2020)

Brihard said:
			
		

> Could be they were on to her and the border was an opportune time to make an arrest. Anyway, I expect a fair bit will come out over the week.



Or if they were on to her and by having US authorities making the arrest on US territory, any unpleasantness about jurisdiction or extradition is avoided.


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## Remius (21 Sep 2020)

Blackadder1916 said:
			
		

> Or if they were on to her and by having US authorities making the arrest on US territory, any unpleasantness about jurisdiction or extradition is avoided.



Isn’t that what he meant by opportune?


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## OldSolduer (21 Sep 2020)

CBH99 said:
			
		

> I wish Covid only targeted really stupid people...



Then depending on the day and time some of us might not be here.....  ;D


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## Retired AF Guy (21 Sep 2020)

More information from the US media:

The New York Times:



> A Canadian national suspected of having mailed an envelope containing ricin to the White House was arrested on Sunday while trying to enter the United States from Canada, nearly a year after she had been deported from the United States for engaging in criminal activity, according to two American officials.
> 
> Customs and Border Protection agents detained the woman, who had a firearm, as she tried to cross the border into Buffalo, the officials said. Currently in the custody of border agents, she is set to be charged by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington.
> 
> ...



CBS news:



> A woman suspected of sending an envelope containing the poison ricin, which was addressed to the White House, has been arrested at the New York-Canada border. The woman is also suspected of sending similar poisoned envelopes to law enforcement agencies in Texas, officials said Monday.
> 
> Envelopes containing ricin were also mailed to law enforcement agencies in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, according to another law enforcement official. The official did not say which agencies were sent the envelopes but said they are believed to have been mailed by the same person who sent one to the White House.
> 
> ...


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## CBH99 (21 Sep 2020)

Hamish Seggie said:
			
		

> Then depending on the day and time some of us might not be here.....  ;D



Fair point


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## Weinie (21 Sep 2020)

Brihard said:
			
		

> I’m curious to find out whether the suspect is Canadian, American or both.



A woman with the same name and appearance as the Texas mug shots, living in St.-Hubert and with similar biodata has social media presence suggesting she is a self-employed technology worker originally from France who arrived in Canada around 2008.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/montreal-woman-accused-of-sending-poisonous-letter-to-donald-trump-says-she-sent-nine-in-total-to-various-targets-police/ar-BB19h9jJ?ocid=msedgntp


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## PuckChaser (21 Sep 2020)

Definitely seems like a poor man's terror weapon, from the Wikipedia list a lot of Ricin's usage isn't even political. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_involving_ricin Amateur hour is probably exactly right.


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## Weinie (21 Sep 2020)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> Definitely seems like a poor man's terror weapon, from the Wikipedia list a lot of Ricin's usage isn't even political. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_involving_ricin _*Amateur hour is probably exactly right.*_



And I guess we should be thankful for that.


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## OldSolduer (21 Sep 2020)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> Definitely seems like a poor man's terror weapon, from the Wikipedia list a lot of Ricin's usage isn't even political. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_involving_ricin Amateur hour is probably exactly right.



Georgi Markov was assassinated in London, England in September 1978 by an assassin wielding a ricin tipped umbrella. It was suspected the Bulgarian Secret Service was behind it, with assistance from the Kinda Good Boys organization.


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## PuckChaser (21 Sep 2020)

They use Novichok now...


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## tomahawk6 (22 Sep 2020)

RCMP and the FBI/postal inspection service working together foil  terrorism.Kudos to all involved.


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## Donald H (22 Sep 2020)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> They use Novichok now...



If 'they' do then it has to be to send a message to any spy that is turned. The latest incident doesn't have that purpose and would leave one wondering why 'they' would leave such an obvious trail?


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## Kirkhill (22 Sep 2020)

"I did it and there ain't nothing you can do about it."


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## Staff Weenie (22 Sep 2020)

Based upon her behaviour, I would suspect she is quite mentally ill (Persecutory Delusion Disorder?). Thankfully, she wasn't capable of putting together a highly rational plan of action. Ricin has no effective treatment and depending on the initial dose, death can occur in 3-5 days.


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## Donald H (22 Sep 2020)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/quebec-woman-identified-as-suspect-in-case-of-ricin-letter-mailed-to-white-house-1.5113407

A photo and a name. Apologies if this has already been posted on this site.

Edit: 





> %u201CAre there mental health issues involved or is it a bigger plot that she's somehow a part of and maybe acted on someone else%u2019s behalf?%u201D he said.


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