Federal Employee Opens Letter Containing Powder and Threat - Fort Worth

March 10, 2008

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There was no anthrax or any other dangerous substance in an envelope that was opened Monday in an office at the federal building in downtown Fort Worth, officials said.

The letter did, however, contain a threat to the president of the United States, and it also warned that anthrax was enclosed, officials said. Some powder fell out of the letter, but a subsequent field test indicated it was harmless.

Initial reports stated that a security guard came in contact with the powder at the Fritz G. Lanham Federal Building, in the 800 block of Taylor Street.

Officials noted later, however, that the person who opened the envelope was an employee of the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has an office in the Lanham Building.

“Basically a secretary opened an envelope at about 10 a.m. and she came across what looked like a threat to the president on piece of paper,” said Terri Wyatt, spokeswoman for the DEA in Dallas.

“It also had a white powdery substance,” Wyatt added, “and the secretary reported some sensation on her hand.”

The secretary was taken to Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital for possible decontamination, but she was unharmed and released, said Shala Greer-Smith, spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, which manages the building.

Members of the FBI’s joint terrorism task force immediately tested the powder and determined it was “nothing toxic,” Wyatt said.

The substance, however, would undergo more extensive tests in a laboratory, said Special Agent Mark White, spokesman for FBI in Dallas.

Although the letter warned that anthrax was enclosed, Greer-Smith said no evacuation of the building was ordered because the tests quickly showed there was no apparent danger.

Shortly before 1 p.m., Fort Worth Police bicycle officers and federal security officers were standing outside of entrances to the federal building, but people were freely entering and exiting the building.

Information about the threat to the president was turned over to the FBI, Wyatt said.

An investigation was continuing, White said, but no other information was immediately available.

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