Ricin detected in mail sent to Pentagon
Two pieces of mail delivered to the Pentagon mail facility on Monday have initially tested positive for ricin, according to a US defense official.
The two suspicious envelopes were addressed to Secretary of Defense James Mattis and to Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson, the official told CNN.
The mail facility is in a separate building on the grounds of the Pentagon and the piece of mail which tested positive never entered the Pentagon building.
All US Postal Service mail received at the Pentagon mail screening facility on Monday is currently under quarantine and poses no threat to Pentagon personnel, according to Pentagon spokesperson Col. Rob Manning.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @02:16AM (12 children)
One was sent to President Trump.
I'm truly sick of the violence and hatred from the left. They are very lucky that the right is more restrained, because the right is far better armed. The right is even physically stronger; actual measured strength is associated with right-thinking views.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Wednesday October 03 2018, @02:38AM (8 children)
What makes you think it wasn't the right? Trump keeps making enemies on both sides of the aisle.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @03:00AM
Steve Scalise was shot by Bernie supporter James Hodgkinson. Rand Paul was attacked by his socialist neighbor. Today, Andy Harris (R-MD) got attacked by leftists in his office.
Basically, socialists are trying to kill conservatives. Why would this situation be an exception? It isn't, by Occam's razor.
It's pretty typical around the world. Not long ago, Brazil's most Trump-like presidential candidate was stabbed by a socialist.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @04:55AM
Two of Ted Cruz's staffers are in the hospital, though that may be just a precaution. In this case, the substance hasn't yet been identified yet.
The left is murderous. The end justifies the means, and so any action is acceptable... even political assassinations.
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Wednesday October 03 2018, @08:45AM (5 children)
Just an observation, I have no idea about this particular case though:
Extreme left violence is usually targeted at individuals, while extreme right violence is mostly targeted at random people.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 03 2018, @02:41PM (4 children)
Can we really make that distinction based on evidence?
It seems to me more plausible that mobs attack random people, no matter who the perpetrators are or who the targets are, whereas individuals or small groups who premeditate and plan their attacks focus on specific targets.
I can recall right-wing and left-wing people executing targeted attacks (Timothy McVeigh vs. the guy who shot up the Congressional softball game), and antifa has been doing mob-style random attacks, but I can't recall any right-wing mob random violence off the top of my head. Can you?
All I can remember is Tea Party people showing up to protests carrying assault rifles, but they didn't do anything violent.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday October 03 2018, @05:48PM (1 child)
Attackers in US Terror Incidents in 2017 [qz.com]
Right Leaning: 37 Attacks
Left Leaning: 11 Attacks
Islamic Extremists: 7 Attacks
Unknown: 10 Attacks
The Right is the most violent, by far.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday October 04 2018, @02:17PM
We were talking about targeted attacks vs. random attacks, and whether Left or Right were more prone to either.
Thanks for the link to the data. I didn't read every incident report from 2017 in the list, but I did a couple dozen. If we're gonna base our aggregate data on those, as you have, then we would honestly have to scrub those classifications with a lot more rigor than the compilers of that list did. Most of it is extremely flimsy.
For example, Global Terrorism Database ID 201707130061:
So, they asked the pipeline company workers who they thought did it, and they said, "Uhhh, probably one of them eco-nuts." GTD dutifully writes down: "Environmentalists (suspected)."
GTD ID 201706260019:
So, it couldn't have been a Muslim doing it. Couldn't have been a disgruntled Black teenager doing it. Couldn't have been a bored Hispanic teenager doing it. Couldn't have been your average New Yorker pissed that the bus had been hogging four parking spots in a row for months doing it. Nope. Had to be anti-Semitic right wingers doing it. Because reasons.
Then there's this one, GTD ID 201710220035:
GTD classified that one as "white extremists." Really? Triggering an emergency stop on a train constitutes a "white extremist" attack? What if the guy had no such affiliations but was a strict vegan? Would GTD then classify the attack as "vegan terrorism" because they want to alert the public to the growing danger of vegan terrorism?
Or maybe these GTD guys are over-classifying everything as terrorism to justify their existence and hold onto their jobs?
Lies, damn lies, and statistics. It's a saying for a reason.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Wednesday October 03 2018, @09:09PM (1 child)
My comment was based on something I read about 30 years ago. It was an article about violent right and left wing groups at the time in Europe. There were left wing groups like the German RAF, which targeted specific politicians and CEO's of the biggest corporations. On the other hand there were right wing groups that bombed public places, like a train station in Italy with over one hundred killed if I recall correctly.
I guess that both sides tend to murder those who they believe are responsible for whatever they think is wrong with the world. I suppose that may have changed over the years, from the 80's in Europe to the world we live in now.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday October 04 2018, @06:12PM
The 1980 train station had right wing executors, and an extensive cover up by the secret service. Either somebody wanted to send a message to the government and the secret service made sure news did not leak out about the government being blackmailed, or possibly it was something aimed at reinforcing the left-right division. Or, like red brigades operations, false flags aimed at undermining political movements of the same color.
I would rule out normal terrorism because there was no public statements from the terrorists. How do you terrorize people when the public does not know what the fuck you want.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @04:24AM
"Beware the wrath of a patient man."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @01:17PM
You gullible fool. Who burned down the Reichstag?
(Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Thursday October 04 2018, @04:44PM
Trump is pushing gun control and pissing off the violent factions on the right.
So far there is no info on who sent it or why.