Ricin ( RY-sin) is a lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) and a highly potent toxin produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis. The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin for mice is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body weight via intraperitoneal injection. Oral exposure to ricin is far less toxic. An estimated lethal oral dose in humans is approximately one milligram per kilogram of body weight.
Roger Frederick Wicker is an American politician, attorney, and Air Force veteran serving as the senior United States senator from Mississippi, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, Wicker was a Mississippi State Senator from 1988 to 1995 and the U.S. Representative from Mississippi's 1st congressional district from 1995 until 2007.
Clayton Lee Waagner is an American convicted bank robber and anti-abortion terrorist. He was born Roger Waagner in North Dakota. He was an escaped fugitive during the spring, summer and fall of 2001 and was the FBI's 467th fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list for carjackings, firearms violations, and bank robbery on September 21, 2001. He was placed on the United States Marshals Service Top 15 Fugitives list for sending more than 280 letters that claimed to contain anthrax, which he mailed to Planned Parenthood with return addresses of the Marshals Service and the Secret Service beginning in October 2001. He is currently in prison.
The Wood Green ricin plot was an alleged bioterrorism plot to attack the London Underground with ricin poison. The Metropolitan Police Service arrested six suspects on 5 January 2003, with one more arrested two days later.
John Patrick Tomkins is an American who was convicted of sending several threatening letters and bomb-like devices to financial firms in the Midwestern United States under the pseudonym The Bishop. A machinist and lifelong resident of Dubuque, Iowa, he is now serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison.
The 2008 Mississippi 1st congressional district special election was a special election in the state of Mississippi to determine who would serve the remainder of former Representative Roger Wicker's term. After an April 22, 2008 ballot resulted in no candidate receiving a majority, Democratic Party candidate Travis Childers defeated Republican candidate Greg Davis in a runoff election on May 13, 2008.
Daniel Stephen Holland is an American politician who was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1985 to 2020, representing the 16th district. He was also a contender for the Democratic nomination in 2008 Mississippi's 1st congressional district special election but he lost the primary runoff to Travis Childers.
In the United States, a common definition of terrorism is the systematic or threatened use of violence in order to create a general climate of fear to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change. This article serves as a list and a compilation of acts of terrorism, attempts to commit acts of terrorism, and other such items which pertain to terrorist activities which are engaged in by non-state actors or spies who are acting in the interests of state actors or persons who are acting without the approval of foreign governments within the domestic borders of the United States.
The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax, occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and to Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy, killing five people and infecting 17 others. Capitol Police Officers and staffers working for Senator Russ Feingold were exposed as well. According to the FBI, the ensuing investigation became "one of the largest and most complex in the history of law enforcement".
The 2003 ricin letters were two ricin-laden letters found on two occasions between October and November 2003. One letter was mailed to the White House and intercepted at a processing facility; another was discovered with no address in South Carolina. A February 2004 ricin incident at the Dirksen Senate Office Building was initially connected to the 2003 letters as well.
Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, was involved in multiple security incidents, including several assassination threats and plots, starting from when he became a presidential candidate in 2007. Secret Service protection for Obama began after he received a death threat in 2007, while serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois and running for president. This marked the earliest time a candidate received such protection before being nominated. Security was increased early for Obama due to fears of possible assassination attempts by white supremacist or other racist groups or individuals against the first African American major party presidential nominee.
Shannon Guess Richardson is an American convicted felon and former actress. She worked in television and film roles, including The Walking Dead, but is best known for sending ricin-laced letters to U.S. president Barack Obama and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, while attempting to frame her husband. She was convicted and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment in July 2014.
Mail Isolation Control and Tracking (MICT) is an imaging system employed by the United States Postal Service (USPS) that takes photographs of the exterior of every piece of mail that is processed in the United States. The Postmaster General has stated that the system is primarily used for mail sorting, though it also enables the USPS to retroactively track mail correspondence at the request of law enforcement. It was created in the aftermath of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people, including two postal workers. The automated mail tracking program was created so that the Postal Service could more easily track hazardous substances and keep people safe, according to U.S. Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe.
From October 22 to November 1, 2018, 16 packages found to contain pipe bombs were mailed via the U.S. Postal Service to several Democratic Party politicians and other prominent critics of U.S. President Donald Trump. Targets included former U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Leigh Marine Occhi is an American who vanished under mysterious circumstances as a teenager at her home in Tupelo, Mississippi, during Hurricane Andrew. Her mother, Vickie Felton, returned home on the morning of August 27, 1992, to find Occhi missing and evidence of blood in the house.
Donald Trump has been involved in security incidents during his presidential campaigns and his first term in office, including assassination threats and attempts. The first known attempt occurred at a campaign rally a few weeks before Trump became the official nominee of the Republican Party in the 2016 presidential election. The most significant incident was an attempt to assassinate Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally during the 2024 presidential election, which resulted in two deaths and an injury to Trump's ear. Another assassination attempt took place in September 2024 at the Trump International Golf Club.
The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga is a television documentary miniseries made for Netflix and directed by Chapman Way and Maclain Way. It was released on 11 December 2024.
