Latest news with #Ricin
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
No illness reported after hundreds at North Canaan facility decontaminated
NORTH CANAAN, Conn. (WTNH) — North Canaan town officials say no symptoms or sicknesses have been reported by employees forced through a decontamination process last week. More than 300 Becton-Dickinson facility personnel had to use decontamination showers and change clothes to go home Thursday after a suspicious package was discovered at their workplace. Over 300 people 'decontaminated' due to suspicious package incident in North Canaan The facility is back to operating normally Monday, amid an ongoing law enforcement investigation. Town officials said normal operations won't affect the investigation, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, and local and state agencies. Since being discovered, the Department of Public Health confirmed the package has tested negative for anthrax, burkholderia species, plague, tularemia, and smallpox. A negative Ricin test was confirmed, along with a Day 2 culture test which resulted in 'no growth.' Officials said the incident was isolated to the facility and there is no risk to the public or adjacent properties. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Ohio Man Charged with Threatening Public Officials and a Columbus TV Station
An Ohio man has been charged with federal crimes after being accused of sending at least 65 threatening letters and electronic communications to approximately 34 victims, including public officials, law enforcement and local CBS affiliate WBNS. Ronald Lidderdale, 39, has been charged with making interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure, mailing threatening communications, false information and hoaxes, and cyberstalking. Agents caught a break after a local news organization was sent a letter with white power on February 11. That date coincided with a letter with white powder received by Tegna owned WBNS. At times, he allegedly claimed the white powder was Ricin. One letter contained a 9mm bullet with the last name of the public official etched on it. According to charging documents, Lidderdale allegedly sent threats to publicly elected officials holding statewide office in Ohio, elected officials holding office in the federal government, and individuals involved in Ohio politics. "Perpetrators who violate federal law by sending such serious threats in the mail or online will not remain anonymous. Actual or threatened political violence in any form must be condemned," said Acting United States Attorney Kelly A. Norris. "We will work with our law enforcement partners to identify these bad actors and prosecute them." Court documents allege that Lidderdale sent a letter to a local TV station and emails to federal and local law enforcement outlining his plans. We asked Tegna about it, but were met with a no comment. "Targeting public officials with threatening messages and substances is a serious federal crime that won't go unpunished," stated FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Elena Iatarola. "FBI agents have worked closely with our local, state, and federal partners to investigate these incidents and arrest the suspected offender." Mailing threatening communications carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Making interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure, conveying false information and hoaxes, and cyberstalking are all federal crimes punishable by up to five years in prison.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Ohio man charged with threatening violence in letters to state officials, law enforcement
May 12 (UPI) -- An Ohio man has been charged with federal crimes for threatening violence in dozens of letters and emails directed at state officials, law enforcement and the media, according to the Justice Department. Ronald Lidderdale, 39, was charged Friday with making interstate communications with "a threat to kidnap or injure, mailing threatening communications, false information and hoaxes and cyberstalking." According to charging documents, Lidderdale is accused of sending more than 49 letters containing suspicious white powders, which he claimed was Ricin. Another letter contained a 9mm bullet with the last name of a public official etched on it. In the dozens of letters mailed between July and August, Lidderdale is accused of threatening violence against each recipient, saying, "I will kill you for your ignorant loyalty to your pedophilic party" or "I will kill you for the good of The People. Your death will come when you least expect it," according to court documents. Court documents also say the New Albany man recently sent a letter to a local TV station, as well as emails to local law enforcement, outlining his alleged plans to kill eight individuals this month. Last week, Lidderdale told the FBI that the letters and emails were meant to incite fear with the goal of changing behavior, according to agents. If convicted, Lidderdale could face years in federal prison. The maximum penalty for mailing threatening communications is up to 10 years in prison. The penalty for making interstate communications, with a threat to kidnap or injure, conveying false information and cyberstalking are also federal crimes and punishable by up to five years in prison. "Targeting public officials with threatening messages and substances is a serious federal crime that won't go unpunished," said FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Elena latarola. "FBI agents worked closely with our local, state and federal partners to investigate these incidents and arrest the suspected offender."
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Yahoo
German police raid home of 16-year-old accused of making deadly toxin
German police in the eastern state of Saxony on Thursday raided the home of a 16-year-old boy suspected of manufacturing and storing deadly toxins. Saxony police said a search had been conducted in the town of Zeithain, some 65 kilometres east of Leipzig, and that investigations were proceeding into a suspected offence under the Weapons of War Act. The boy is said to have set up a laboratory in the attic of his parents' home, where he produced a number of ampoules containing a mixture of aconitine and ricin. Ricin, which is made from the seeds of the castor oil plant, is classified as a biological weapon under the act. The aim of the raid was to secure all toxic substances and other evidence, the police statement said. The area around the police operation, including all access roads, has been cordoned off. A kindergarten and a primary school located near the boy's home were informed of the operation but did not have to be evacuated, police spokesman Kay Anders said, adding that there was no danger to the population. Prosecutors said that no arrest warrant had been applied for and that the boy had no criminal record. Currently, there were no reasons requiring his detention, they said. However, police spokesman Anders told dpa that investigators had already discovered small amounts of toxins during a previous raid at the boy's home in December. It came following tip-offs by retailers who are required to report to the authorities when selling sensitive materials such as protective equipment and laboratory technology, he said. However, this did not seem to have stopped the teenager, who "apparently" acquired new seeds to continue manufacturing toxins, according to the spokesman. Experts from Germany's disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), are at the scene to aid investigators, the police spokesman confirmed. It was initially unclear what motivated the teenager to make the toxins, police said. Ricin is extremely poisonous and can be fatal even when consumed in very low concentrations. According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the alkaloid aconitine is contained in the aconite plant, also known as wolf's bane. Around 2 to 6 milligrams of pure aconitine can be fatal for adults, according to the institute.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Toddler kicked out of nursery school for being transphobic: 'This is totalitarian insanity'
A British toddler was kicked out of a nursery school after being accused of being transphobic or homophobic, according to local media reports. The child, aged 3 or 4, was kicked out of an unnamed school nursery "for being transphobic," the Telegraph reported Monday. The name of the school and details of the case were not disclosed by the Department for Education (DfE) of the United Kingdom, the report said. A DfE spokesman told the newspaper that "all pupils and staff should feel safe and protected at school and should never face violence or abuse." Uk Stabbing Suspect In Deaths Of 3 Girls Found With Ricin, Al Qaeda Material And Charged Under Terrorism Act Statistics revealed that 94 students at state primary schools were suspended or permanently excluded for transphobia and homophobia in 2022-23. Read On The Fox News App That figure includes 10 students from year one and three from year two, where the maximum age is seven, the report states. "Every once in a while, the extremes of gender ideology throw up a story that seems too crazy to believe, and a toddler being suspended from nursery for so-called transphobia or homophobia is one such example," Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, told the newspaper. Maine Gov. Janet Mills Responds To Trump's Demand For Apology Over Trans-athlete Policies "Teachers and school leaders involved in this insanity should be ashamed of themselves for projecting adult concepts and beliefs onto such young children," she added. Author J.K. Rowling, who has spoken out on trans issues, took issue with the suspension. "This is totalitarian insanity. If you think small children should be punished for being able to recognise (sic) sex, you are a dangerous zealot who should be nowhere near kids or in any position of authority over them," she posted on X. Lord Young, the director of the Free Speech Union, told the newspaper: "It beggars belief that schools are suspending children as young as five for breaching their 'transphobia' policy. I would have thought that if your ideology is so rigid it justifies you punishing toddlers for not complying with it, that's a powerful argument for discarding it in favor of something less dogmatic."Original article source: Toddler kicked out of nursery school for being transphobic: 'This is totalitarian insanity'
