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On Wednesday, the strange news flew across the nation’s wires that four men from Georgia, in their upper-sixties and early-seventies, had been arrested on Tuesday for an alleged plot to attack state and federal officials and buildings. The fantastic story involves Frederick Thomas, 73, of Cleveland, GA, Dan Roberts, 67, of Toccoa, GA, Ray H. Adams, 65, of Toccoa, and Samuel J. Crump, 68, of Toccoa. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), they are accused of planning to procure an unregistered explosive device and a silencer and to manufacture the bio-toxin ricin for use against fellow American citizens,...

U.S. Attorney’s Office November 01, 2011 Northern District of Georgia(404) 581-6000 ATLANTA—Frederick Thomas, 73, of Cleveland, Ga.; Dan Roberts, 67, of Toccoa, Ga.; Ray H. Adams, 65, of Toccoa; and Samuel J. Crump, 68, of Toccoa, were arrested today relating to plans to obtain an unregistered explosive device and silencer and to manufacture the biological toxin ricin for use in attacks against other U.S. citizens and government personnel and officials. U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Sally Quillian Yates said, “These defendants, who are alleged to be part of a fringe militia group, are charged with planning attacks...

Federal authorities on Tuesday arrested four Georgia men accused of plotting to buy explosives and produce a deadly biological toxin to attack fellow U.S. citizens and government officials. The Justice Department said the men were members of a fringe domestic militia group and had planned to manufacture ricin for use in their attacks. The men attended meetings starting in March where they discussed carrying out crimes, including murder, in order to undermine federal and state government, prosecutors said. The targets included local police, federal government buildings and employees of agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service. (snip) At a meeting...

Four men from Georgia have been arrested and charged in an alleged plot to purchase explosives and to manufacture ricin, a biological toxin, with the intent to attack U.S. citizens, according to the Justice Department.

American counterterrorism officials are increasingly concerned that the most dangerous regional arm of Al Qaeda is trying to produce the lethal poison ricin, to be packed around small explosives for attacks against the United States. For more than a year, according to classified intelligence reports, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen has been making efforts to acquire large quantities of castor beans, which are required to produce ricin, a white, powdery toxin that is so deadly that just a speck can kill if it is inhaled or reaches the bloodstream. Intelligence officials say they have collected evidence that Qaeda operatives are...

Federal investigators said this afternoon that the material taken from a Coventry Township home is ricin -- a toxin that is "derived from the caster bean and can be deadly if ingested, inhaled or injected." The FBI, responding to a call from Coventry Township and Summit County officials, had seized a small amount of material from home on South Main Street late Tuesday afternoon. The substance was flown to a federal lab in Maryland for analysis and the results announced today. The substance was found by the new owner of the home, which had recently been foreclosed on. Federal agents...

Toledo, OH (WTVG) -- Some parts of the Safety Building downtown were under quarantine Tuesday evening as several police officers underwent decontamination by hazmat crews. It began as a domestic violence 911 call to the 4700 block of Douglas. Responding officers found some highly toxic chemicals inside the home. Toledo police say officers seized mushrooms and a cultivation of castor beans, used to make the chemical ricin. Hazmat was called. As a precaution, the half dozen officers exposed to the chemical underwent a decontamination process. None exhibited any signs of abnormalities. FBI agents from Detroit are on the scene and...

Some of the Islamic Terrorists' plotted mass murder --2000--- OLYMPICS 2000 BOMBSaturday, 26 August, 2000, 05:37 GMT 06:37 UK Olympic 'bomb plot' foiled Police accidentally uncovered the threat to the Olympics New Zealand police have uncovered a possible plot to blow up a nuclear reactor in Sydney during next month's Olympic Games. The reactor is in Sydney's suburbs Australian police have been informed and the two forces are working together on the case involving a group of Afghan refugees who had suspicious material in their possession. The group was reportedly linked with Afghanistan-based terrorist Osama bin Laden. Detective superintendent...

For the first time, compounds that protect against ricin poisoning have been identified by French researchers. It's hoped the research could lead to an antidote for the poison, which is a thousand times more toxic than cyanide. Banned under chemical weapons conventions, ricin became infamous when a modified umbrella-gun containing a poisoned pellet was used to kill Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in 1978. Although not as potent as synthetic nerve agents, ricin is obtained from a natural source - the castor bean - so could potentially be more easily obtained by terrorist groups. Research has been undertaken into an antibody-based vaccine and...

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SNIPPET: "A white supremacist yesterday admitted producing deadly ricin while preparing for acts of terrorism. Ian Davison's home in Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, Co Durham, was raided by anti-terror officers who found the killer substance in a jam jar in his kitchen. At Newcastle Crown Court he admitted producing a chemical weapon — ricin — and preparing for acts of terrorism." SNIPPET: "He will be sentenced after the trial of his son Nicky Davison (19), who denies two charges of possessing material containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing acts of terrorism. The case will be...

The politics of national security has become more volatile lately. Republicans are increasingly emphasizing national security in hopes of electoral gains in 2010. Their push has raised fears that existentially important security issues have become too political for the nation's good. Whether or not that's true, Democrats will have to push back, and liberals are worried that they are struggling. GOP Splitting Congressional Dems from Obama Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent writes, "Congressional Dems have no message or strategy on national security, and they’re getting badly outworked by the GOP on the issue." Republicans have a "very specific strategy" with...

SNIPPET: "Everett police were called to the 1200 block of 50th Street Southwest on Monday evening in response to a reported domestic disturbance. When they arrived, they found the 43-year-old woman bleeding in the yard and her 48-year-old husband unresponsive inside the home."

Page last updated at 04:02 GMT, Saturday, 6 June 2009 05:02 UK "Pair questioned over ricin find" SNIPPET: "A father and son are being questioned by anti-terrorism officers following the discovery of the poison ricin at a house in County Durham. The find is connected to a police inquiry into alleged extreme right-wing activity. Ian Davison, 41, and his son, Nicky, 18, were arrested on Tuesday in raids at their homes in County Durham. The ricin, said to be 6,000 times more toxic than cyanide, will be analysed at the Porton Down government laboratory. Police have halted their search of...

Cheney warns of new attacks Former Vice President Dick Cheney warned that there is a “high probability” that terrorists will attempt a catastrophic nuclear or biological attack in coming years, and said he fears the Obama administration’s policies will make it more likely the attempt will succeed. In an interview Tuesday with Politico, Cheney unyieldingly defended the Bush administration’s support for the Guantanamo Bay prison and coercive interrogation of terrorism suspects. And he asserted that President Obama will either backtrack on his stated intentions to end those policies or put the country at risk in ways more severe than...

The man who unlawfully possessed the deadly toxin, ricin, and two unregistered firearm silencers in his Las Vegas hotel room in April was sentenced today to three years in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $7,500 fine. U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones imposed the sentence against Roger Von Bergendorff, 57, who pleaded guilty in August to one count of possession of a biological toxin and one count of possession of unregistered firearms. Bergendorff also agreed to forfeit a pistol and two unregistered silencers, said U.S. Attorney Greg Brower of Nevada.

Pentagon Makes Fighting Extremism Top Priority Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon on Thursday officially named "the long war" against global extremism as its top priority and pledged to avert any conventional military threat from China or Russia through dialogue. The Defense Department, in a new national defense strategy, also emphasized the need to subordinate military operations to "soft power" initiatives to undermine Islamist militancy by promoting economic, political and social development in vulnerable corners of the world. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the change would help establish permanent institutional support for counterinsurgency skills...

LAS VEGAS -- An unemployed graphic designer who told investigators that he found making ricin an "exotic idea" pleaded guilty Monday to possessing the deadly toxin in a hotel room here. Roger Bergendorff, 57, also pleaded guilty to a federal weapons charge. (A second weapons charge was dropped.) He could face up to 20 years in prison at his Nov. 3 sentencing, though prosecutors are recommending that he serve a little more than three years. Bergendorff reportedly fantasized about harming people with the poison -- he had sketched an "injection delivery device" disguised as a pen -- but never carried...

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success." While the United States...

LAS VEGAS - A loner who long had struggled financially, Roger Bergendorff told investigators that he found making ricin an "exotic idea." So he researched the deadly toxin online. He bought "The Anarchists Cookbook." He ordered castor bean seeds -- ricin comes from the processed beans' waste -- apparently posing as a fictitious customer: "Roger's Patio and Garden." He donned a mask and gloves, mashed the beans with acetone, dried out the oil and stored the light-colored powder in a polypropylene container. According to a six-page federal complaint released Wednesday, Bergendorff fell ill while keeping a "crude" form of the...

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A man who authorities believe was sickened by the deadly toxin ricin was arrested Wednesday on federal charges after he was released from a hospital. Roger Bergendorff, 57, had been hospitalized since Feb. 14. He is charged with possession of a biological toxin and two weapons offenses stemming from materials authorities said were found Feb. 26 and Feb. 28 in his room at an extended-stay motel several blocks off the Las Vegas Strip. "He was released from the hospital and he's in custody," said Agent Joseph Dickey, spokesman for the FBI office in Las Vegas. The...

Salt Lake City (AP) -- A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the cousin of a man who was apparently poisoned by the deadly toxin ricin. Thomas Tholen, 54, was indicted on a charge of misprision of felony. U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said Tholen knew ricin had been illegally produced but did not report it to authorities and lied to cover up his concealment. "The consequences of this action could have been disastrous," Tolman said. Tholen, of Riverton, is the cousin of Roger Bergendorff, who apparently was poisoned by ricin and suffered respiratory ailments. He regained consciousness March 12 after...

A federal grand jury has indicted a Riverton man accused of lying to federal investigators about ricin discovered in a Las Vegas motel room. Thomas Tholen, 54, was indicted Wednesday on a single charge of misprision of felony, accusing him of knowing that a crime had been committed — that ricin had been manufactured — but failing to report the crime to authorities. Federal prosecutors also accused Tholen of lying to investigators to cover up the crime. "He knew more than he stated and that what he did state was misrepresentative," U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman told reporters Wednesday....

LAS VEGAS — A police officer who went to a motel room where a large quantity of ricin was later found has tested positive for trace amounts of a substance that can be derived from the poison's source, authorities said Thursday. "We did have one sample that had trace detectible levels of ricinine," said Pat Armour, manager of the Southern Nevada Public Health Laboratory, the local coordinator of sampling in the ricin case. The male officer has shown no signs of illness or symptoms of ricin poisoning, officials familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The man at the center of a ricin scare at a Las Vegas motel says he never had any intention of hurting anyone with the deadly biological agent, his brother told The Associated Press. Roger Bergendorff, who finally regained consciousness last week after almost a month of hospitalization, possessed the ricin powder found in his motel room in February and believes he was contaminated by it, said Erich Bergendorff, who talked to his brother on the phone Sunday. "He just confirmed that it was not intended for anybody," Erich Bergendorff said in a telephone interview from...

LAS VEGAS -- The central figure in a hotel ricin scare last month has emerged from a coma, FBI agents said Friday... ...While he has become cognizant, federal agents said, Von Bergendorff is still in critical condition. Police are questioning him at the hospital, trying to determine why he had so much of the poison.

A 57-year-old graphic designer and pizza deliveryman, Roger Von Bergendorff, remained in a coma in a Las Vegas-area hospital March 5, nearly two weeks after he apparently inhaled ricin powder, a biological toxin that later was found among his belongings. The FBI is investigating the case to determine how the potentially deadly substance came into Von Bergendorff’s possession —and, more important, what he planned to do with it....

Deadly poison CDC test confirms substance is ricin FBI in Salt Lake City still investigating link to house in Riverton By Jason Bergreen The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 03/05/2008 01:27:51 AM MST A substance found in Roger Von Bergendorff's Las Vegas hotel room and tested Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was confirmed to be the deadly toxin ricin. The new results confirm initial tests conducted by the Southern Nevada Health District.     Jennifer Sizemore, a spokeswoman for SNHD, confirmed Tuesday that the CDC sample came back positive.     Police found vials of ricin, firearms and...

Breaking news alert, there is a hazmat team at the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas, presumably connected to the ongoing ricin investigation

The feds are saying flatly that the Vegas ricin case is not related to terrorism but I’m not so sure. The man who was staying at the Vegas hotel and is in the hospital in critical condition, who almost certainly manufactured the ricin from raw castor beans by following instructions in what authorities described as an “a book on anarchy,” is apparently obsessed with domestic animals: Neighbors in Utah described Mr. Von Bergendorff as a peculiar loner commonly seen in brown slacks and a brown shirt. Pauline and Grant Dansie, who live three doors down from Mr. Tholen, said Mr....

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan? It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said. Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding...

Utah home search planned in ricin case By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press Writer LAS VEGAS - FBI agents hope to search a Utah house linked to a man whose hospitalization led to the discovery of deadly ricin in a motel room he had occupied. Roger Von Bergendorff, the focus of the investigation, had lived in the house near Salt Lake City for more than a year before moving to Las Vegas about a year ago, said Tammy Ewell, who lives across the street. "He just barely got by in life. He'd just barely make it," Ewell said Saturday of the...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today it has entered the investigation of a 57-year-old man who is hospitalized in critical condition who may have been exposed to the deadly plant toxin ricin. The Centers for Disease Control says it is working with the Southern Nevada Health District’s Environmental Health Division, the FBI and other public health and law enforcement agencies investigating a former resident of the Extended Stay America motel. CDC investigators believe the man may be the victim of deliberate ricin poisoning, which may be injected, ingested or inhaled. Metro Police said that they do not...

The ricin found in Las Vegas is almost certainly part of a deliberate plot of some kind; authorities continue to insist there was “no link to terrorist activity,” but now they’ve found firearms and an “anarchist cookbook.” LAS VEGAS - As police tried to piece together how a rare, deadly poison ended up in a motel for transients, the 57-year-old man who could hold the key lay unconscious in a hospital. Adding to the mystery, police said firearms and an “anarchist type textbook” were found in the same room where the ricin was discovered two days later. Capt. Joseph Lombardo...

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Police say there is no indication of any link to terrorist activity involving the discovery of the deadly poison ricin that was found in a hotel room near the Las Vegas Strip. Seven people were sent to the hospital to be tested for poisoning, including three officers who first responded to the 911 call. All seven people are fine and have been released from the hospital. There was also a dog and two cats found in the room. The cats survived, but the dog had to be put down because of starvation. The room belonged to...

LAS VEGAS - Firearms and an "anarchist type textbook" were found in the same motel room where several vials of the deadly toxin ricin was found, police said Friday. The room was most recently occupied by a 57-year-old man who has been in critical condition with breathing problems at a hospital for more than two weeks. Las Vegas police said there was no apparent link to terrorist activity, and no indication of any spread of the deadly substance beyond the several vials of powder found in a plastic bag in the man's room on Thursday. But what the ricin was...

Detectives may be looking at the discovery of a poison-infested vial at a Las Vegas motel as a murder plot that has left one man gravely ill, FOX News has learned. The toxin known as ricin turned up at the Extended Stay America Motel, leaving one person in critical condition and in the hospital, with some reports suggesting that he may be in a coma. No one else has exhibited signs of ricin poisoning to date, police said Friday. Law enforcement officials told FOX that the Las Vegas Police Department is leading the probe and the investigation appears to be...

Police are now revealing that firearms were found in that hotel room, along with an anarchist handbook tabbed to "Ricin." Also, that this person also apparently spent some time at the Excalibur Hotel/ Casino. They sent a team over there to check for contamination and say nothing was found. When the official was asked why they didn't mention the firearms in the earlier presser, he said: oh, I didn't know we didn't mention that. The victim (terrorist on a dry run, perhaps) is 57 yrs. old. The male who came to claim his belongings is also in his 50's. No...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29, 2008 – A National Guard civil support team was on scene within an hour last night after Las Vegas authorities sought help with a suspicious substance that later turned out to be deadly ricin. Two members of the 92nd Civil Support Team take a sample of a simulated hazardous substance in a Sparks, Nev., shopping mall during training Nov. 25, 2005. The Nevada National Guard’s civil support team was called to assist Las Vegas Metro Police on Feb. 28, 2008, with a suspicious substance that was later identified as deadly ricin. The team is one of...

A man who stayed in a Las Vegas hotel room where ricin was found is in critical condition at a hospital, where he has been since mid-February, said a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department official. A man is in critical condition after exposure to ricin at a Las Vegas, Nevada, hotel.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Preliminary tests indicate that a package found at a motel contained the toxin ricin, and seven people have been taken to hospitals, authorities said. Police were called to the Extended Stay America Motel on Thursday and retrieved a package from the motel manager that was determined to be a chemical or controlled substance, Officer Ramone Denby said. Two preliminary tests indicate it contained ricin, he said. Results from further tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a second local lab are expected Friday, police said. Homeland Security officials joined local police in the...

(CNN) -- Police in Las Vegas, Nevada, are investigating the discovery of what they believe to be ricin at an extended stay hotel Thursday. Authorities were called to an Extended Stay America hotel after staff found a suspicious substance in one of the rooms. "They determined it might be some biological agent, and through presumptive tests, we determined it to be ricin," said Capt. Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. "We don't know who it belongs to or why it would be here at this time." Three hotel employees and a fourth person who came to the...

There have been a number of threats this summer : some potentially serious, others clearly faked. All tend to distract us from more serious matters.

PATASKALA, Ohio - Federal agents searching the home of an accused rapist on Friday were working to determine whether he was intending to make the lethal poison ricin. On Thursday, authorities converged on the Mink Street home to arrest Stanley Elliott on charges including rape and gross sexual imposition, 10TV's Laura Cole reported. SLIDESHOW: Images From Scene The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the state fire marshal were called to the home at about 5 p.m. after there were reports of chemicals inside. A hazardous materials crew erected a decontamination tent and put on protective suits, Cole reported....

The al-Qa'ida connectionPolice killer alleged to be 'key' terror suspect wanted over chemical attack plot By Jason Bennetto and Ian Herbert 16 January 2003 The terror suspect who stabbed to death a police officer in Manchester is alleged to be a "key" al-Qa'ida member who was wanted by MI5 for plotting chemical attacks in Britain. Yesterday the police set up an inquiry to examine a series of apparent security and intelligence blunders that led to the murder of Detective Constable Stephen Oake. DC Oake's widow, Lesley, spoke of her "total devastation" at the death of her husband. The couple had...

A collection of 9/11 tributes I’ll add to the list below, and if you have any you’d like to add to this (or any other sort of tribute/remembrance), please do so here. Either leave a comment with the link, or link to this post and send a trackback. 9/11: The 5th Year Anniversary Tribute Blood of Heroes September 11th, Uncensored From Brain Terminal: Crystal Morning: September 11th, 2001 From William Teach: 9/11 Plus 5 From Crusader: WTC Tribute More from YouTube: 911 tribute September 11th - Five Years Later: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 September 11th - Flash...

PARIS, Sept 7, 2006 (AFP) - A controversial imam with a conviction for supporting terrorism was deported by France to Algeria Thursday, the interior ministry said. Chelali Benchellali, 61, a former preacher at a mosque in the suburbs of Lyon, was put on board a flight to Algiers from Orly airport in Paris. Benchellali was given a six-month jail term in June for his role in an underground network that was found guilty of plotting to bomb targets in Paris. He was not imprisoned as he had already served the time in pre-trial detention. Two of Benchellali's sons, Menad and...