Breaking: Explosion Reported at Boston Marathon's Finish Line

[Dawn Meredith]

Dear Senator Wicker,

Please find enclosed some Ricin for your personal use.

With kind regards

Terrorist (with North Korean accent)

'Ricin' found in letter to US Senator Roger Wicker

A letter that has tested positive for the lethal toxin ricin or another poisonous substance has been posted to a US senator, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said.


The letter was intended for Roger Wicker, a Republican senator representing Mississippi, Mr Reid said.


It was intercepted at a centre handling post for the Capitol in Washington DC, US media report.


Ricin, extracted from castor beans, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide.


It can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure.


'Memphis postmark'
Mr Wicker issued a statement on Tuesday acknowledging the letter.


"This matter is part of an ongoing investigation by the United States Capitol Police and FBI," he said.


"I want to thank our law enforcement officials for their hard work and diligence in keeping those of us who work in the Capitol complex safe."


An official quoted by AP news agency said two tests had shown positive for ricin but the results are not deemed conclusive without further testing.


Ricin


Can be fatal when inhaled, ingested or - most dangerously - injected
One to three castor beans chewed by a child, or just eight seeds chewed by an adult, can be fatal
The toxin is part of the waste produced when castor oil is made
The letter was detected during a routine inspection of mail and did not reach the US Capitol or Senator Wicker's office, a Senate leadership aide was quoted as saying.


Senators were informed of the letter at a closed-door briefing by FBI Director Robert Mueller and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the Boston Marathon bombings, the aide added.


The BBC's Jane Little in Washington says there is a heightened sense of alert in the capital after the attacks in Boston but there is no indication so far of any connection between the two incidents.


It is also not clear why the letter was sent to Senator Wicker.


The Senate's chief security office told Reuters: "The exterior marking on the envelope in this case was not outwardly suspicious, but it was postmarked from Memphis, Tennessee."


All mail sent to members of Congress has been screened off-site since letters laced with anthrax were sent to Capitol Hill in 2001.


In 2004, three Senate office buildings were shut after tests found ricin in letters that had been sent to the Senate majority leader's office.


Ricin was the poison used for the infamous murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in September 1978.


He was waiting at a bus stop near Waterloo Bridge, London, when a stranger jabbed him in the leg with an umbrella.


The umbrella injected a tiny ricin-filled pellet into Mr Markov's leg and he died three days later in hospital.

"...tested positive for the lethal toxin Ricin or another posoinous substance"

That's clear isn't it. Tested positive for something or another, not sure which. Let's just call it Ricin and be done with it.

Again, just like 9-11. You'd think thse bastards would be a tad more creative.
Except last time the content were known . Not " some poisonous substance" .
It was so heartbreaking last night to see a prt of the vigil for the eight year old boy. His mother sustained a head injury that sounds rather serious, and his little sister lost a limb.

Dawn

[David Guyatt]

Now it's reported that a 2nd letter containing Ricin - or not Ricin (tick whichever box most suits your circumstances) - has been received by the White House.

[Peter Lemkin]

Now it's reported that a 2nd letter containing Ricin - or not Ricin (tick whichever box most suits your circumstances) - has been received by the White House.

Hmmm......reads like a replay of the Anthrax capers. Barrack gonna get real mad and have DHS drone kill everyone mailing letters that look suspicious from the air! Don't suck on your letters - wear surgical gloves; a full hazmat suit; and read your mail in a negative pressure room; then dispose of them in an oxygen fed incinerator. The saddest thing of all, is how everyone has 'gotten used' to being bombed and some killed; shot at and some killed; sent poisoned letters and some killed; being spied on 24/7; being groped and otherwise harrassed at airports and other places; being told to be afraid - very afraid; going off to war and have lots killed on all sides [mostly civilians in non-attacking lands] for no reasons whatsoever - or for horrible reasons that benefit only the dogs of war. And no great throng is out in the streets demanding the 'heads' of those who are running the 'show' - having 'bought' the scapegoat and propaganda line du jour.

Very sad, indeed. :gossip:

A letter addressed to President Obama containing a suspicious substance was intercepted Tuesday by authorities at a remote White House mail screening facility, according to the Secret Service.

The letter follows the discovery Tuesday of a ricin-laced letter sent to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

Edwin Donovan, deputy assistant director of the U.S. Secret Service, did not identify the substance. However, he said the Secret Service is working closely with the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI.

The substance was detected at a facility run by the Secret Service, Donovan said.

[Peter Lemkin]

Police and FBI just announced they found the bomber on video and they will make an announcement shortly....fasten seatbelts. :what: 'They' say [unnamed officials] that an arrest is imminent....

[Peter Lemkin]

..and the AP says an arrest has been made and the suspect will appear in Federal Court within an hour or two for arraignment.....obviously, this person [guilty or not] could not have mailed the letters with the ricin [or whatever it was in them...if anything].

A suspect was arrested Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombing case and was expected to appear shortly in federal court, the Associated Press reported.

The news agency said U.S. Marshals had taken the suspect to the courthouse in downtown Boston.

The AP report comes as several news sources said investigators have identified images of a suspect seen delivering one of the explosive devices that killed 3 people and injured more than 170 at the finish line of the marathon.

However, there were conflicting reports regarding the arrest, which CNN also reported. Sources tell USA TODAY and several other outlets that no arrest had yet taken place.

CNN's John King quotes the sources as saying that surveillance video from a nearby Lord &Taylor department store was key in the investigation. Television footage also played a role, CNN reports.

"The camera from Lord & Taylor is the best source of video so far," said Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino tells the Boston Globe. "All I know is that they are making progress."

A law enforcement official, who described the investigation as "very active,'' told USA TODAY that authorities have been focusing on a mass of photographic evidence provided by the public and area security cameras. But the source indicated that there mixed views on the value of the analysis so far.

"There is a lot going on," said the official, who is not authorized to comment publicly on the investigation.

....I think OBL done it!....

[Peter Lemkin]

The 'word' now is that no one has yet been arrested, but that someone will be soon....giving 'them' lots of time to get away....

...oh, yes...and two suspicious packages were investigated in the Senate office building and taken away....

...busy day!:popworm: N.B. this coming weekend there will be marathons in Oklahoma City and London......

[Peter Lemkin]

Hardly a dull moment folks...now the Federal Court House in Boston [where anyone arrested would be brought before a Judge and is rumored to be imminent] was just CLEARED of all persons!....they aren't saying why...but it looks like a bomb scare, or some such....

[Peter Lemkin]

3:07 p.m. CDT, April 17, 2013

Two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing have been singled out in surveillance videos of the scene, sources told the Tribune Washington Bureau on Wednesday.

U.S. counter-terrorism and law enforcement officials said that the suspects in the Boston bombings were seen in a department store video that caught images of a man leaving a backpack near the finish line.

A second federal official said he has been briefed that authorities believe a second video or photo showed "two men with two backpacks."

A counter-terrorism official said the suspects were picked out because they were carrying black backpacks, as well as because of their demeanor and how they reacted to the bomb blasts. That official said authorities do not yet know the identities of those in the videos.

Media personnel were gathering at the Boston federal courthouse Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of a possible arrest.

Earlier, CNN reported a suspect was in custody, citing Boston and U.S. law enforcement sources, but later retracted its report.

Three Reuters sources also disputed there had been an arrest. Officials later confirmed the arrest report was inaccurate.

"Despite reports to the contrary there has not been an arrest in the marathon attack," Boston police said in a statement.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a statement asking the media to "exercise caution and attempt to verify information through appropriate official channels before reporting."

The identification of possible suspects marked the most significant, publicly-disclosed break since Monday's blasts at the Boston Marathon's finish line killed three people and injured 176 others in the worst attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

The bombs killed an 8-year old boy, Martin Richard, a 29-year-old woman, Krystle Campbell and a Boston University graduate student who was a Chinese citizen. Boston University has identified the student as Lu Lingzi.

The crowded scene in central Boston was recorded by surveillance cameras and media outlets, providing investigators with significant video of the area before and after the two blasts.

Investigators were also searching through thousands of pieces of evidence from cellphone pictures to shrapnel pulled from victims' legs.

Based on the shards of metal, fabric, wires and a battery recovered at the scene, the focus turned to whoever may have placed homemade bombs in pressure cooker pots and taken them in heavy black nylon bags to the finish line of the world-famous race watched by thousands of spectators.

Streets around the bombing site remained closed to traffic and pedestrians on Wednesday, with police continuing their work.

SENSE OF RELIEF

Rich Havens, the finish area coordinator at the Boston Marathon who also witnessed Monday's blasts, said he was relieved officials had identified suspects.

"When the police said we are turning every rock, they really meant it," Havens said. "There is a sense of relief that the amazing work they are doing - breaking through bits and pieces - is actually turning things up. And that they've gotten to this point in a matter of two days."

Bomb scene pictures produced by the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force and released on Tuesday show the remains of an explosive device including twisted pieces of a metal container, wires, a battery and what appears to be a small circuit board.

One picture shows a few inches of charred wire attached to a small box, and another depicts a half-inch (1.3 cm) nail and a zipper head stained with blood. Another shows a Tenergy-brand battery attached to black and red wires through a broken plastic cap. Several photos show a twisted metal lid with bolts.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Whether it's homegrown or foreign, we just don't know yet. And so I'm not going to contribute to any speculation on that," said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who until January was Massachusetts' senior senator. "It's just hard to believe that a Patriots' Day holiday, which is normally such time of festivities, turned into bloody mayhem."

The head of trauma surgery at Boston Medical Center, which was still treating 19 victims on Wednesday, said his hospital was collecting the shards of metal, plastic, wood and concrete they had pulled from the injured to save for law enforcement inspectors. Other hospitals were doing the same.

"We've taken on large quantities of pieces," Dr. Peter Burke of Boston Medical Center told reporters "We send them to the pathologists and they are available to the police."

Security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said instructions for building pressure-cooker bombs similar to the ones used in Boston can be found on the Internet and are relatively primitive.

Pressure cookers had also been discovered in numerous foiled attack plots in both the United States and overseas in recent years, including the failed bombing attempt in New York's Times Square on May 1, 2010, the officials said.

[Keith Millea]

Information Clearing House had all the crowd photos posted with circles around the possible perps.It clearly showed the guys with black backpacks.Now,I get an internal error when trying to go on ICH.Looks like they may have had to take them down.

[Keith Millea]

[URL="http://upload.democraticunderground.com/10022690526"]Here are some interesting photos.
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