Well, Cammie, you aren’t thinking about this from a reporter standpoint. The reporter probably KNOWS the answer. They are looking for an answer from an authority figure.
You’ve heard the thing teachers say, “There’s so such thing as a dumb question”, right?
Reporters are trying to get the bottom of the story - asking that question (even if the reporter KNOWS the answer already) is giving the LE authorities a chance to give the right answer.
So, the question wasn’t stupid at all. How many people here know why someone might produce ricin privately?
How many people here know HOW to produce it (I do, I’m one...)
How many people here know what ricin IS? Where it COMES from originally?
Not that many. And the PUBLIC has a right to be INFORMED on this, so the reporter was asking a question to give information
You’re giving those reporters waay too much credit for being clever. They couldn’t even get the timeline right after she explained it to them.