BREAKING - FBI Raiding home of Ft. Detrick researcher at this moment...

ABC Channel 2, Baltimore | June 25, 2002

[John H K]

Reported FBI is raiding (and they did use the term "raiding") the home of a Ft. Detrick researcher in connection with the Anthrax case. Didn't have any further info, just came in.

[VadeRetro]

Hope this is the big break!

[John H K]

Interesting that we've seen a sudden spate of "We don't have any f***ing clue who it is" stories on the Anthrax case in the past week. Deliberate FBI media manipulation to get someone to drop their guard?

Still haven't heard anything more. Researcher not named, either.

[Redcloak]

Surely you can't be serious.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

AUTHORITIES CONVERGING ON SUSPECTED ANTHRAX HOUSE NEAR D.C.
			Posted by Recovering_Democrat On Jun 25 4:24 PM with 37 comments Local TV Just breaking: 50 Miles North of D.C., same type of spores found in Daschle letter are apparently at this house. No other details. DC FREEPers, can you shed light??rd

[Digger]

I guess we should not complain but what took so frick'in long.

[Eagle Eye]

And it took how many months to do this?

[John H K]

It was early on in the ABC local news from Baltimore, about 5 minutes ago....clearly had just broke, no graphics or video or prepared story.

[Redcloak]

Sorry... That was just a juvenile attempt on my part to share some of the joy from the other thread on this. (And to make matters worse, I can't get the music outta my head!)

[sinkspur]

And it took how many months to do this?

It took years to get Ted Kaszynski, and the FBI only got him when it published his screed, and Kaszynski's brother recognized the writing.

Maybe you could have done better?

[Thane_Banquo]

Is the suspect a member of the religion of peace?

[blackdog]

A certain irony though when you think about it. Islamic terrorist, right wing extremist, and it turns out to be someone on the federal payroll! And consider all the rights we have had to give up as citizens because some federal researcher was angry at the government because his pension wasn't big enough? Sounds like the aligator that lives in Maryland has bit the keepers who feed him.

[colorado tanker]

"Surely you can't be serious." And don't call me Shirley.

[Willie Green]

Surely you can't be serious.

In a way, it's not surprising.
Most in government actually DO try to serve our country honorably, despite the horrendous inefficiency of the bureacracy.
Yet there are always those nasty few bad apples who sre so emotionally disturbed that they engage in remarkably insane activities.

My wild guess: this numnutz has no ideological complaints, simply fanatic about the possibility of bio-terrorist attacks that he initiates it on his own to increase funding "to do something about it". Kind of like a peddler giving out free samples to drum up sales.
Twisted, sick people.
(Pure speculation, but wouldn't surprise me.)

[shadowman99]

How long would it take YOU to fingerprint a specific strain of Anthrax?

You couldn't?

Well then shut the f*ck up!

[blackdog]

Actually, I am of the opinion that ANY federal worker who gets the opportunity to enrich themselves monetarily or in power base will do so. It is a matter of how far they are willing to go. Since September there have been all sorts of fairy tales and manipulations from every level of governent down to the local dog catcher in order to feed on some "War on Terrorism" pie.

[blackdog]

Just ask the Lynx hair boys who glued lynx hair in areas where there were no lynx so they could "protect and study" the rare lynx. In reality they were just commiting fraud, stealing funds, and committing perjury. If these bozo's worked in a germ lab do you think they would be more ethically endowed?

[Illbay]

If they had arrested someone within two weeks you would have wondered how many laws they broke, and how many illegal wiretaps or bugs it took to crack the case so soon.

Maybe we ought to pass a law commanding LEOs not to break a case too soon, nor too late (building an airtight case be d*mned).

If you're going to criticize from the fringes, at least sound intelligent about it.

[Illbay]

Spot-on, Sink. These are people who are going to criticize the government NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO.

Buncha panty-waists...

[Dialup Llama]

>Sounds like the aligator that lives in Maryland has bit the keepers who feed him.

And this federally employed alligator sent an anthrax letter to Mohammed Atta's ex-landlord how?

[anniegetyourgun]

One of the most reasoned retorts I've seen here on FR.

You're right - most are trying to serve as best they can. And, I believe that is especially true of those who are in these sensitive positions. (It's so much easy to be a federal union flake when you're working in the bowels of some agency building that we could just as easily do without.)

Glad to hear this news (and we've seen a number of these kind of stories) and I hope they have their man.

[lavaroise]

All hail scientists and researchers of our ivory towers. They want nothing but the good of the people, just as long as they are on top of the food chain in their consumption, welfare and production schemes.

[Willie Green]

I am of the opinion that ANY federal worker who gets the opportunity to enrich themselves monetarily or in power base will do so. It is a matter of how far they are willing to go.

Well sure, it's a fundamental principle of human nature that EVERYBODY will act in their own self-interest. Nothing wrong with that, it's simply the way life is.

I'm stictly referring to the defective units who exist at the outer edges of the bell curve -- the ones with a short-circuit in the ol' gray matter which causes them to act in ways incomprehensible to 99.999% of the population.

[blackdog]

Hey, if they are doing this in plain view and with some seriousness, that is a good thing. In many cases it would be cover-up time if it pointed towards a federally managed lab.

Let's take guesses. After the dust settles, how much do you want to bet that some germ/bug/CDC lab director stands shoulder to shoulder with Tom Ridge claiming that it was the underfunded labs that allowed this to happen. We need to raise funding(fer security of our chil'ren) to make sure this never occurs again.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

Is the suspect a member of the religion of peace?

i prefer to call it the religion of prison

[rwfromkansas]

Holy cow Willie, I actually don't have anything bad to say about your comment. In fact, it may be spot on right.

Hell must be an icecube right now....:)

[DemoSmear]

Kind of like a peddler giving out free samples to drum up sales.

...or a forest firefighter starting fires...

[Gore_ War_ Vet]

Ft. Detrick was always the probable source for the weapons grade anthrax, just not the most talked about one.

Does anyone remember our stolen nuclear secrets

[blackdog]

Self interest should be incompatable with civil service. Self interest gives us Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken, Marc Rich, Martha Stewart etc... I do agree with you on the human nature aspect. The only catch is that public employees are supposed to be doing what is in everyone elses best interest, not theirs.

[Dog Gone]

I would be shocked if this is a moslem. Unfortunately for us here at FR, I think we're going to find out that this was the work of some right-wing nut and the press is going to have a field day.

[Eagle Eye]

It's been known for some time that the anthrax came from Ft. Deitrich.

Enough people knew that there was a potential for anthrax early enough that the President and his people were on Cipro six weeks before the first outbreaks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to unjustly accuse the FBI of gross competence. Ever.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

unfortunately you are probably right pisses me off too when the unibomber was arrested there was no reference to his left wing agenda

[Havisham]

Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point where if the FBI says they've got their perp, it means evidence tampering or, in that wonderful police expression, a frame. We can only hope the good guys have won the day at the FBI.

[Liberty Teeth]

"The FBI's search for the person who mailed anthrax-laced letters that killed five persons has focused on a former U.S. scientist who worked at a government laboratory where he learned how to make a weapons-grade strain of the deadly bacteria."

I wonder if this is the same person?

http://www.infowars.com/saved% 20pages/anthrax/WA%20Times.htm

[Aliska]

This might not pan out, but I posted that this was a possibility (one of our own fed employees from one of our own labs). Should be in the archives.

[Willie Green]

The only catch is that public employees are supposed to be doing what is in everyone elses best interest, not theirs.

Yeah, but that goes against human nature -- even though many (most ?) manage to balance self-interest with honesty and serve the public quite honorably.
But the bad apples do present the need for public vigilance.

[Palladin]

Thanks for the news. I've always thought it was a homegrown nutcase. Hope he gets the death penalty. He killed many innocent people.

[Eagle Eye]

Well then shut the f*ck up!

Gosh, what a well-considered reply. Tsk, tsk, no profanity.

There was only a few places where the anthrax could originate. And Detrich was known as the source quite some time ago.

Why was the President on Cipro (according to Ari Fleisher) six weeks before the out breaks? Did the FBI know something then?

[Newbomb Turk]

bump for later

[blackdog]

Agreed...But instead of the public being vigilant, I would rather see the demand for ethics and integrity come from within the agencies by example. When we demand it we are "separatists and right wing zealots".

[Eagle Eye]

The FBI has known for more than three months that the person responsible for sending the letters was a U.S. citizen and, according to the sources, probably a former scientist connected to the government's biodefense program.

This was published on Feb 25. Follow LT's link for the article.

Hard to bame the FBI, they've been too busy hanging out in libraries and mosques and churches looking for suspects while NOT profiling.

The single greatest charge of the federal government is to protect the country from attack. Some of you are defending those invovled in the most abysmal failure of this responsibility ever in America's history.

[Alas Babylon!]

Yes, but I keep wondering about Mohammed Atta and his bleached hands, with one of his "disciples" with the sniffles in that pharmacy in Florida. How will they relate the first victim, the photo editor from the Sun/Enquirer papers, who also happened to work blocks from Atta's crash pad? Could there have been more than one "Anthrax Killer"?

[AdA$tra]

I wonder if this is the same person?

I was guessing it was that guy. I am glad you posted that link. I was getting ready to look for something similar that I had read. One would think that if this guy wanted to, he could have done a great deal more damage with that stuff. As it was, it really did not amount to much IMHO.

[Willie Green]

Hell must be an icecube right now....:)

I often surprise people when I suspend my lunatic rants and pretend that I'm sane and emotionally stable.

;^)

[archy]

Is the suspect a member of the religion of peace?

See following and watch for further announcements.

*old news*, 1979/80

-archy-/-

[Eagle Eye]

Mrs. Rosenberg said she and several colleagues have wondered whether the FBI's failure to bring charges in the case is related to government reluctance to publicly acknowledge its biochemical operation.

"Is the FBI dragging its feet? I just don't know. And, if so, I don't know why," she said.

Infowars posts Wash Times article

An insider asking the same question that I asked. I guess you owe me an apology.

[AdA$tra]

Could there have been more than one "Anthrax Killer"?

Noboday has said the scientist had to be the "mailer". Did the scientist guy sell the stuff to Atta or others?

[Dog Gone]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI searched the home of a researcher near Fort Detrick, Md., who may have had access to anthrax while doing work for the Army base, a law enforcement official said Tuesday.

The researcher agreed to the search in hopes of removing himself from any possible suspicion, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear whether the researcher was a federal worker at Fort Detrick or a worker under contract with the Army base.

``This was a consensual search for which the only qualification was potential access to anthrax,'' the law enforcement official said. The official said the search was not unusual in the FBI's hunt for a suspect for last year's anthrax letter attacks.

Fort Detrick, which also is home to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, has anthrax samples. The FBI is conducting voluntary lie detector tests at the base.

At the conclusion of the search, no arrests were made.

The search underscored the FBI's attempt to find a suspect in the deadly anthrax letter attacks last fall. Five people died in the attacks, and at least 13 others contracted and recovered from either the skin or respiratory form of the disease.

The investigation into who sent several anthrax-laced letters last year has produced few leads and some investigators acknowledge the trail is growing cold. The government has begun a strategy of focusing on possible sources of anthrax and casting a wide net, rather than identifying suspects from the few clues gained from the letters.

Lie detector tests and interviews are also being conducted at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, where researchers have been developing a powdered form of anthrax for use in testing biological defense systems, military officials have said.

The Army said recently that small quantities of anthrax have routinely been produced at Dugway, and then shipped to the Army's biodefense center at Fort Detrick.

Since the attacks, security at Fort Detrick has come under fire.

One former researcher at the infectious-disease center there has said nothing would have prevented workers from removing deadly germs from the labs.

[sinkspur]

The single greatest charge of the federal government is to protect the country from attack. Some of you are defending those invovled in the most abysmal failure of this responsibility ever in America's history.

Yeah. Who's defending anybody? If you don't know who the specific researcher is who is targeted, and you don't have the evidence, then you don't know jack-sh*t.

You're a chronic bellyacher who, as someone else pointed out, would have been screaming about "violations of civil liberties" if the FBI had wrapped this up in January.

You don't know anything about law enforcement. Why the hell should anybody listen to you?

[Alas Babylon!]

Did the scientist guy sell the stuff to Atta or others?

Very good point. Think we'll ever find out?