A man has been charged with sending letters containing white powder to four members of the U.S. Congress. According to court documents released Monday, he allegedly acted after being inspired by reports of similar white powder letters that senators and secretaries of state across the country had received.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Matthew Unglesbee allegedly sent the letters to four members of Congress in northern Illinois, including in Chicago, and one of the letters went to a senator’s office. The office of one member of the U.S. House of Representatives received a package containing a loose substance. The Justice Department (DOJ) said a letter addressed to a U.S. senator bore the words: “HA HA HA, enjoy your present.”
According to court records, the return address on the envelopes was Unglesbee’s. Federal agents and police officers spoke with him at his home. He allegedly admitted that he was inspired by other cases of white powder letters being sent to various institutions across the country. “Unglesbee told agents that he sent four letters to four members of Congress after overhearing a conversation in a restaurant about earlier mailings of this kind, which were reported earlier this month,” the court documents say. “Unglesbee admitted that he was aware of earlier incidents involving packages containing white powder, including cases linked to anthrax. He said he knew that the recipients of such letters would take the matter seriously and call in responders in white protective suits, because anthrax is dangerous.”
The complaint also states that the man claimed it was only a joke, while acknowledging that the recipients could have taken the letters as a threat. The letters were sent to Democratic members of Congress representing Illinois in Washington: the offices of Mike Quigley, Brad Schneider, Robin Kelly and Jan Schakowsky.
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Source: Polski.FM
