Posted on 10/13/2001 9:03:35 PM PDT by OKCSubmariner
EXCERPTED:
A broadening national bioterrorism investigation turned toward St. Petersburg late Friday after NBC officials disclosed that a New York employee has contracted anthrax.
A woman who opens the mail for news anchor Tom Brokaw was diagnosed with a skin form of anthrax several days after she opened a letter that contained white powder and was postmarked from St. Petersburg.
The New York Times on Friday received a letter with a white powder and the St. Petersburg Times received one earlier in the week. All three letters were postmarked in St. Petersburg.
Federal law enforcement officials said late Friday that all three letters postmarked St. Petersburg tested negatively for anthrax.
[However, the test for the letter sent from St. Petersburg to the Brokaw aide must have been unsuccessful (too small a sample size?) because the aide in fact did contract Anthrax. This point was made by Ted Kopel on ABC Nightline last night. This calls into question the negative test results for the other two letters since they were also sent from St. Petersburg and may not have had inadequate sample size].
An assistant to NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw contracted the skin-based form of anthrax after opening a "threatening" letter to her boss.
Officials quickly said there was no known link to either the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or the more serious inhaled form of anthrax that killed a supermarket tabloid editor in Florida last week. The 38-year-old NBC employee was being treated with antibiotics and is expected to recover. The letter was postmarked in St. Petersburg on Sept. 20 and opened Sept. 25, authorities said.
St. Petersburg Times columnist Howard Troxler opened his letter at his desk Tuesday. As he did so, a white powdery substance, resembling sugar or salt, spilled out.
Troxler stopped opening the letter. Authorities were called to the newspaper's offices in downtown St. Petersburg. Police put the envelope in an airtight container and drove it to a state health lab in Tampa for analysis. Firefighters covered Troxler's desk with a plastic sheet and yellow emergency-scene tape reading "caution."
Health officials found no signs of anthrax or bacteria in the powder. The envelope and a letter inside also tested negative.
The letter had no return address and was postmarked St. Petersburg. It bears a code 337, then a space, then 1.
Anything that is mailed in Seminole, Largo, Bay Pines, Gulfport, Pinellas Park or any St. Petersburg neighborhood goes through the main post office on First Avenue N and is stamped with a 337. [Actual envelop shown in article and the zip code is visible as 33701 and the postmark can be made out as early (0?) October 2001 for St. Petersburg]
The cryptic letter misspelled Troxler's name and had little punctuation. It said:
"Howard Toxler ... 1st case of disease now blow away this dust so you see how the real thing flys. OKLAHOMA-RYDER TRUCK! Skyway bridge-18 wheels." [Oklahoma-Ryder Truck capitalized for emphasis by FR poster, original version did not use capital letters]
To me it looks like someone using a non-dominant hand in an attempt to confuse any handwriting analysis...weird..
"Hey Mohammed, whaddya say we screw with their minds and send a bunch of people envelopes with cryptic, ambiguously worded threats!"
"Good idea, Ahmed! Even better, we put talcum powder or sugar in some of them, and anthrax in others!"
"I like it! Allah would be proud!"
"Ooh, ooh, let's REALLY screw with their minds and make ominous references to OTHER bombing incidents, like that Oklahoma City thing!"
"Mohammed, you are one cold sumb**ch!"
Could be possible. But I am very skeptical about it after OKC was blamed on Local Crazies, while there are some indications that it could have been middle eastern. Please check post #37 for different opinion. What are your comments about #37? Thanks. Stepping out for dinner and poll , be back later tonite to read your replies.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Flagless One was targeted from internal terrorist groups but I don't understand why Anthrax would be used except to make it look like a ME attack. White supremacists might want to force us into a conflict and attacking a media organization might fit teir view of the world.
I think I will invest everything I have in Reynolds Wrap.
We now know, from tomorrow's article in the London Observer, that Iraq has that Ames, IA strain.
The part that catches me is that the author say some to the effect of watch the real disease fly? Is he implying more of the same or a different, worse disease?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.