anthrax hoaxes
Anthrax hoaxes involving the use of white powder or labels to falsely suggest the use of anthrax are frequently reported in the United States and globally. Hoaxes have increased following the 2001 anthrax attacks, after which no genuine anthrax attacks have occurred. The FBI and U.S. postal inspectors have responded to thousands of "white powder events" and targets have included government offices, US embassies, banks and news organizations.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-mar-08-na-anthrax-threats8-story.html|title=Anthrax hoaxes pile up, as does their cost|last=Drogin|first=Bob|date=8 March 2009|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=10 December 2009}}{{cite book|last=Cole|first=Leonard A.|title=The Anthrax Letters: A Bioterrorism Expert Investigates the Attacks That Shocked America--Case Closed?|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-1-60239-715-6|url=https://archive.org/details/anthraxlettersbi0000cole|url-access=registration}}
History
Anthrax hoaxes were sporadically reported in the 1990s,{{cite book|last=Carus|first=W. Seth|author2=Center for Counterproliferation Research |author3=National Defense University |title=Bioterrorism and biocrimes: the illicit use of biological agents since 1900|publisher=The Minerva Group, Inc.|year=2002|volume=8|chapter=Thrreatened Use (Anthrax Hoaxes)|isbn=1-4101-0023-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1jEP8Ve4zwgC}} including a petri dish in an envelope labeled "anthrachs"[sic] sent to B'nai B'rith in Washington in 1997 that contained harmless Bacillus cereus,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/25/us/suspicious-package-prompts-8-hour-vigil-at-b-nai-b-rith.html|title=Suspicious Package Prompts 8-Hour Vigil at B'nai B'rith|date=24 April 1997|work=New York Times|accessdate=10 December 2009 | first=Matthew L. | last=Wald}}{{cite news|url=http://reason.com/archives/2001/10/10/anthrax-attack|title=Anthrax Attack?|last=Bailey|first=Ronald|date=10 October 2001|work=Reason|accessdate=10 December 2009}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/12/opinion/the-anthrax-files.html|title=The Anthrax Files|last=Kristof|first=Nicholas D.|date=12 July 2002|work=New York Times|accessdate=10 December 2009}} but a spate of anthrax threats followed the 1998 arrest of Larry Wayne Harris, a microbiologist and white supremacist. Harris released what he said was military-grade anthrax but was actually a harmless vaccine strain, but news coverage popularized the idea of anthrax among hoaxers.{{cite journal|last=Tucker|first=Jonathan B.|date=July 1999|title=Historical trends related to bioterrorism: An empirical analysis|journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases|publisher=CDC|volume=5|issue=4|url=http://origin.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol5no4/tucker.htm | pmid = 10458952|doi=10.3201/eid0504.990406|pmc=2627752|pages=498–504}}{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/learn/anthrax/Harris.asp?xpicked=3&item=5|title=The Harris Hoax|work=ADL|accessdate=10 December 2009}} In response to these hoaxes, the CDC released guidance for public health authorities for handling bioterrorism threats.{{cite journal|year=1999|author1=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)|title=Bioterrorism Alleging Use of Anthrax and Interim Guidelines for Management -- United States, 1998|journal=MMWR|publisher=CDC|volume=48|issue=4|pages=69–74|url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056353.htm|pmid=10023627}}
=Post-2001=
File:Anthrax hoax in Rhode Island in 2004.jpg
In the month following the 2001 anthrax attacks, hundreds of hoaxes were reported worldwide.{{cite journal|doi=10.1071/NB03059|last=Leask|first=Alexander|author2=Valerie Delpech |author3=Jeremy McAnulty|title=Anthrax and other suspect powders: Initial responses to an outbreak of hoaxes and scares|journal=New South Wales Public Health Bulletin|publisher=Csiro Publishing|volume=14|issue=12|pages=218–221|url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/226/paper/NB03059.htm|year=2003|doi-access=free|pmid=14981556 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/21/anthrax.terrorism|title=Anthrax hoax chaos|last=Harris|first=Paul|date=21 October 2001|work=The Observer|accessdate=10 December 2009 | location=London}}{{cite news |last=Kasindorf |first=Martin |author2=Toni Locy |date=6 November 2001 |title=Anthrax hoaxes persist despite arrests |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2001/11/06/hoaxes-usat.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025230953/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2001/11/06/hoaxes-usat.htm |archive-date=25 October 2012 |accessdate=10 December 2009 |work=USA Today}} Legislation was enacted in the UK in October 2001 so that anyone convicted of a hoax involving threats of biological, chemical, nuclear or radioactive contamination would face a seven-year prison sentence.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1360077/Spore-hoaxers-face-jail-terms-from-today.html|title=Spore hoaxers face jail terms from today|last=Murphy|first=Joe|date=21 October 2001|work=Daily Telegraph|accessdate=10 December 2009 | location=London}} The Anti-Hoax Terrorism Act 2001 was passed by the US House of Representatives{{cite news|url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/11/14/loc_dewine_proposes.html|title=DeWine proposes tough law on anthrax hoaxes|last=DePledge|first=Derrick|date=14 November 2001|work=Cincinnati Enquirer|accessdate=10 December 2009}} but never enacted,{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h107-3209|title=H.R. 3209: Anti-Hoax Terrorism Act of 2001|work=Govtrack|accessdate=10 December 2009}} and legislation making terrorism hoaxes a federal offence was finally passed as part of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.cid.army.mil/documents/Lookout/Military%20Hoaxes_web.pdf |title=Violators of Military Hoaxes Act could receive fines, prison time |work=CID Lookout |publisher=U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command |accessdate=10 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717135437/http://www.cid.army.mil/documents/Lookout/Military%20Hoaxes_web.pdf |archivedate=17 July 2011 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A53452-2004Dec9?language=printer|title=Measure Expands Police Powers|last=Eggen|first=Dan|date=10 December 2004|newspaper=Washington Post|accessdate=10 December 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s108-2845|title=S. 2845: Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004|work=Govtrack|accessdate=10 December 2009}}
Cases
One of the most prolific hoaxers was Clayton Waagner, an anti-abortion activist who mailed hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to abortion clinics in late 2001{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1695140.stm|title=US anthrax hoax suspect arrested|date=6 December 2001|work=BBC News|accessdate=10 December 2009}} and who was convicted in December 2003.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-12-03-anthrax-hoax_x.htm|title=Man is convicted in anthrax hoax case|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=10 December 2009 | date=3 December 2003}}{{cite news|url=http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/12/10/waagner/index.html |title=The quiet fall of an American terrorist |last=Clarkson |first=Frederick |date=10 December 2003 |work=Salon |accessdate=10 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320083801/http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/12/10/waagner/index.html |archivedate=20 March 2011 }} A Sacramento man, Marc M. Keyser, admitted to sending around 120 packages marked as containing anthrax in October 2008, which he says was to highlight the lack of preparedness of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and public for an anthrax attack. He was convicted in September 2009 of five counts of hoaxes and making threats{{cite news|url=http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2191521.html|title=Sacramentan convicted for sending anthrax hoax messages|last=Walsh|first=Denny|date=18 September 2009|work=Sacramento Bee|accessdate=10 December 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/us/2009/09/17/D9APEMG81_us_anthrax_scare/ |title=Calif. man convicted in nationwide anthrax scare |date=17 September 2009 |work=Salon |accessdate=10 December 2009 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and sentenced to four years in prison in late April 2010.{{Cite web |url=http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20100427_9709.php |title=gsn.nti.org |access-date=2010-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430161431/http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20100427_9709.php |archive-date=2010-04-30 |url-status=dead }}
In November 2008, white powder was mailed to temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, causing both to be closed temporarily while the mailings were investigated. There was speculation the mailings were in protest of the church's support for Proposition 8.{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27707413|title=White powder sent to Mormon temples|agency=Associated Press|date=13 November 2008|access-date=14 October 2011}}
Notable recipients of anthrax hoax letters include journalist Judith Miller, author of Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, who received one at the New York Times offices in October 2001.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/15/opinion/in-america-living-with-fear.html|title=In America; Living With Fear|last=Herbert|first=Bob|date=15 October 2001|work=New York Times|accessdate=10 December 2009}}
References
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External links
- {{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/05/anthrax.uk|title=Hoax!|last=Ronson|first=Jon|authorlink=Jon Ronson|date=5 October 2002|work=The Guardian|accessdate=10 December 2009 | location=London}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/learn/anthrax/hoaxes.asp?xpicked=3&item=hoax|title=Anthrax Hoaxes: From Baghdad to Las Vegas|work=ADL|accessdate=10 December 2009}}
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