Anthrax hoaxes involving the use of white powder or labels to falsely suggest the use of

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

are frequently reported in the United States and globally.

Hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

es have increased following the

2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 ...

, after which no genuine anthrax attacks have occurred. The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

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.

History

Anthrax hoaxes were sporadically reported in the 1990s, including a petri dish in an envelope labeled "anthrachs" icsent to

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...

in Washington in 1997 that contained harmless ''

Bacillus cereus ''Bacillus cereus'' is a Gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium commonly found in soil, food, and marine sponges. The specific name, ''cereus'', meaning "waxy" in Latin, refers to the appearance of colonies grown on blood agar. Some strains are ha ...

'', but a spate of anthrax threats followed the 1998 arrest of Larry Wayne Harris, a microbiologist and

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

. 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. In response to these hoaxes, the

CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

released guidance for public health authorities for handling bioterrorism threats.

Post-2001

In the month following the 2001 anthrax attacks, hundreds of hoaxes were reported worldwide. 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 Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirab ...

would face a seven-year prison sentence. The Anti-Hoax Terrorism Act 2001 was passed by the US House of Representatives but never enacted, and legislation making terrorism hoaxes a federal offence was finally passed as part of the

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) is a 235-page Act of Congress, signed by President George W. Bush, that broadly affects United States federal terrorism laws. The act comprises several separate titles with var ...

of 2004.

Cases

One of the most prolific hoaxers was

Clayton Waagner Clayton Lee Waagner (born August 25, 1956) is a 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 fugitiv ...

, an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

activist who mailed hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to abortion clinics in late 2001 and who was convicted in December 2003. 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 The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

and public for an anthrax attack. He was convicted in September 2009 of five counts of hoaxes and making threats and sentenced to four years in prison in late April 2010. In November 2008, white powder was mailed to temples of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(Mormons) in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, causing both to be closed temporarily while the mailings were investigated. There was speculation the mailings were in protest of the support by the Church for

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a constitutional amendment, state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the California state elections, November 2008, Novem ...

. Notable recipients of anthrax hoax letters include journalist

Judith Miller Judith Miller (born January 2, 1948) is an American journalist and commentator known for her coverage of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program both before and after the 2003 invasion, which was later discovered to have been based on ...

, author of '' Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War'', who received one at the ''New York Times'' offices in October 2001.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anthrax Hoaxes Hoaxes 2001 anthrax attacks Anthrax Hoaxes in the United States 2001 hoaxes