On Tuesday, a letter sent to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) tested positive for ricin poison. ABC News reports that a second letter sent to the U.S. Senate has tested positive. The addressee is unknown at this time. [Update: Reports now indicate the second letter was addressed to President Obama.]
NETALERT: A second letter has field tested positive for deadly poison ricin. Addressee not known. First one was… http://t.co/sm5kOfd0Do
— ChuckGoudie (@ChuckGoudieABC7) April 17, 2013
Update:
Fox News producer Mike Levine reports that a letter similar to the one sent to Wicker was addressed to President Obama. Both were postmarked in Tennessee on April 8 and contain similar language and signatures.
https://twitter.com/MikeLevineFNC/status/324531748992081920
https://twitter.com/MikeLevineFNC/status/324532195568009218
https://twitter.com/MikeLevineFNC/status/324532440796364801
https://twitter.com/MikeLevineFNC/status/324532899527401472
https://twitter.com/MikeLevineFNC/status/324533224338505728
https://twitter.com/MikeLevineFNC/status/324533558494494720
https://twitter.com/MikeLevineFNC/status/324535560762974208
Chad Pergram of Fox News reports it is “unclear” if the letter sent to Obama tested positive for toxins.
Unlike preliminary tests for Ricin on letter sent to Wicker, unclear if other letter sent to Obama tested positive for toxic substances.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 17, 2013
Update:
Initial testing indicates the letter addressed to Obama contains ricin.
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Letter sent to President Obama initially tests positive for Ricin, officials say #breaking via Dow Jones Newswires
— Anthony DeRosa ? (@Anthony) April 17, 2013
RT @Jordanfabian: The suspicious letter addressed to President Obama has field-tested positive for ricin, @PierreTABC reports.
— WhiteHousePressCorps (@whpresscorps) April 17, 2013
CNN & @wsj reporting that a letter addressed to President Obama has tested positive for poison ricin.
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) April 17, 2013
Officials appear to have a suspect.
NBC: Federal officials say they believe they know who sent the letters to the Senate and the White House
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) April 17, 2013
But no arrest has been made.
NBC's Pete Williams says no arrest has been made on the suspicious letters sent to the WH and Senate
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) April 17, 2013
Twitter users are asking if the second letter reportedly sent to the Senate is the same as the letter addressed to Obama.
Is the ABC-reported Ricin letter and the 'suspicious letter' sent to Obama the same thing?
— ✟ Right Scoop ✟ (@trscoop) April 17, 2013
The answer to that question is not clear at this time. Update: Reports now indicate the second letter was not meant for the Senate.
Law enforcement officials say a second suspicious letter that has been received in Washington was actually directed to the White House, not the Senate.
Meanwhile: Suspicious packages reportedly discovered in Senate buildings; evacuation underway.
There is “no indication of a connection” to the Boston Marathon bombing, according to the FBI.
http://twitter.com/MikeLevineFNC/statuses/324552999928229888
The letter will undergo further testing, according to White House press secretary Jay Carney.
At WH, Jay Carney confirms letter addressed to Pres Obama containing suspicious substance is undergoing FBI analysis.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 17, 2013
http://twitter.com/MikeLevineFNC/statuses/324554400188215300
Sen. Carl Levin’s office in Saginaw, Michigan, received a suspicious letter as well.
Developing: Sen. Carl Levin's Saginaw office evacuated after suspicious letter found –> http://t.co/1fzdJ31cfA #local4
— Local 4 WDIV Detroit (@Local4News) April 17, 2013
Carl's statement on suspicious letter at his Saginaw office today: http://t.co/oL4CXxlIeL
— Senator Carl Levin (@SenCarlLevin) April 17, 2013
He issued this statement:
Earlier today, a staffer at my Saginaw regional office received a suspicious-looking letter. The letter was not opened, and the staffer followed the proper protocols for the situation, including alerting the authorities, who are now investigating. We do not know yet if the mail presented a threat. I’m grateful for my staff’s quick response and for government personnel at all levels who are responding.
Twitchy will monitor this developing story and update as more details become available.
Editor’s note: The title of this post has been changed to reflect the latest developments in this story. The original title was “ABC: Second letter sent to US Senate tests positive for ricin.”
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