Threatening Letters Containing Ricin Sent to Mayor Bloomberg: Police

Anonymous threats to Mayor Michael Bloomberg in letters opened in New York on Friday and by the director of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns in Washington, D.C. on Sunday contained material that tested positive for traces of ricin, according a New York Police Department spokesman. 

According to tests performed locally, the letter contained material that "preliminarily indicated the presence of ricin," a highly toxic poison. 

The NYPD released a statement about the incident, saying: "Tests on the letter opened in New York also preliminarily indicated the presence of ricin in testing today at the National Bioforensic Analysis Center in Maryland. The writer, in letters, threatened Mayor Bloomberg, with references to the debate on gun laws."

Civilian personnel in New York and Washington who came in contact with the opened letters remain asymptomatic, the statement said. "However, members of the NYPD  Emergency Service Unit who came in contact with the letter that was opened at the city’s mail facility on Gold Street in Manhattan on Friday are being examined for minor symptoms of ricin exposure that they experienced on Saturday but which have since abated."

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the NYPD Intelligence Division, which is responsible for the Mayor’s protection, are investigating the threats.

Stay with Patch for updates as this story develops.