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WASHINGTON -- A letter addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss, tested positive for ricin or another poison, says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., according to the Associated Press. The news was first reported by CNN.
The envelope, which was intercepted at an off-site Capitol mail facility, tested positive three times for ricin, according to CNN, citing a law enforcement source. After that round of tests the envelope was transmitted to a lab in Maryland for additional tests.
Senators were briefed on the threat in a closed-door meeting Tuesday night. While reluctant to talk about the investigation, senators said it was reminiscent of the 2001 anthrax scare that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Building and the Pentagon.
Originally posted by cartesia
This makes absolutely no sense... what was the guy hoping the senator would eat the letter?
Ricin (pron.: /ˈraɪsɪn/), from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally occurring protein. A dose as small as a few grains of table salt can kill an adult human. The LD50 of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram (1.78 mg for an average adult, around 1⁄228 of a standard aspirin tablet/0.4 g gross) in humans if exposure is from injection or inhalation.[1] Oral exposure to ricin is far less toxic and a lethal dose can be up to 20–30 milligrams per kilogram.
5 Mississippi state lawmakers have died within the past few months, including the recent
death of Jessica Upshaw who recently took a great deal of blame for not allowing a vote to
kill Agenda 21 in Mississippi.