2001 Anthrax attacks
The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, also known as Amerithrax from its FBI case name, occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 attacks. Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and two Democratic U.S. Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others. The ensuing investigation is said by the FBI to have become "one of the largest and most complex in the history of law enforcement" [1], and cost around $100,000,000.[2]
Media reports focused on other possible suspects for years, but FBI files show that the investigation began to focus on Bruce Edwards Ivins as early as April 4, 2005, when Dr. Ivins told the FBI he would not talk any further without his lawyer present. On April 11, 2007, Dr. Ivins was put under periodic surveillance because "Bruce Edwards Ivins is an extremely sensitive suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks".[3] Ivins was a scientist who worked at the government's biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland. In June 2008, Ivins was told of the impending prosecution, and on July 27, 2008 it is claimed he committed suicide using an overdose of acetaminophen.[4]
On August 6, 2008, federal prosecutors declared Ivins to be the sole culprit of the crime.[5] Two days later, Sen. Charles Grassley and Rep. Rush Holt called for hearings into the DOJ and FBI's handling of the investigation. [6] [7] On February 19, 2010, the FBI formally closed its investigation. [8]
A review of the science used in the investigation is under way at the National Academy of Sciences. [9] Some information about the case related to Ivins' mental problems is still "under seal." [10]
Legal Action
In 2008, the Justice Department agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit by another former Fort Detrick scientist, Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, whom investigators pursued for years before clearing him.[11]
On 2011-07-15, the Justice Department lawters acknowledged in court papers that the sealed area in Ivins' lab — the so-called hot suite — did not contain the equipment needed to turn liquid anthrax into the refined powder that floated through congressional buildings and post offices in the fall of 2001. These statements were retracted 8 days later.[12]
On 2011-11-29, an 8 year legal battle was finished which exposed slack rules and sloppy recordkeeping at the Army’s biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick, the federal government agreed to pay $2.5 million to the family of Robert Stevens, the first person killed in the anthrax letter attacks of 2001, settling a lawsuit claiming that the Army did not adequately secure its supply of the deadly pathogen. As part of the agreement, Justice Department lawyers are seeking to have many documents that were uncovered in the litigation kept under court seal or destroyed.[11]
External Sites
- Dr Meryl Nass web site
- Deep Politics Forum Thread
- Wikipedia main Anthrax attacks page
- Timeline of the 2001 anthrax attacks
References
- ↑ FBI web site Anthrax case links
- ↑ UG#561 - $100,000,000 to Crack A Lone Nut? (Amerithrax, Gladio, 7/7 and The Conspiracy against Conspiracies), radio show including 1 hour about the Amerithrax case
- ↑ FBI file #847444, page 67
- ↑ Ivins case reignites debate on anthrax LA Times 3 August 2008
- ↑ U.S. officials declare researcher is anthrax killer CNN 6 August 2008
- ↑ Anthrax investigation should be investigated, congressmen say Associated Press 8 August 2008
- ↑ ISBN 978-1-60239-715-6 The Anthrax Letters: A Bioterrorism Expert Investigates the Attacks That Shocked America-Case Closed?
- ↑ F.B.I., Laying Out Evidence, Closes Anthrax Letters Case New York Times 19 February 2010
- ↑ Science review underway
- ↑ FBI Summary Report Footnote pp. 8
- ↑ a b Anthrax Families To Recieve $2.5 million settlement New York Times, 30th Nov 2011.
- ↑ Justice Dept Filing Casts Doubt On Guilt of Bruce Irvins. ProPublica.com. 15th July 2011.
