The anthrax attacks , also known as Amerithrax a portmanteau of " America " and " anthrax ", from its FBI case name , [ 1 ] occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, , 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. According to the FBI , the ensuing investigation became "one of the largest and most complex in the history of law enforcement". A major focus in the early years of the investigation was bioweapons expert Steven Hatfill , who was eventually exonerated. Bruce Edwards Ivins , a scientist at the government's biodefense labs at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland , became a focus around April 4, On April 11, , Ivins was put under periodic surveillance and an FBI document stated that he was "an extremely sensitive suspect in the anthrax attacks".
Federal prosecutors declared Ivins the sole perpetrator on August 6, , based on DNA evidence leading to an anthrax vial in his lab.
Holt Jr. The FBI responded by saying that the review panel asserted that it would not be possible to reach a definite conclusion based on science alone, and said that a combination of factors led the FBI to conclude that Ivins had been the perpetrator. The settlement was reached solely for the purpose of "avoiding the expenses and risks of further litigations", according to a statement in the agreement. The anthrax attacks came in two waves. The first set of letters containing anthrax had a Trenton, New Jersey , postmark dated September 18, The first known victim of the attacks, Robert Stevens , who worked at the Sun tabloid, also published by AMI, died on October 5, , four days after entering a Florida hospital with an undiagnosed illness that caused him to vomit and be short of breath.
Scientists examining the anthrax from the New York Post letter said it was a clumped coarse brown granular material which looked similar to dog food. Two more anthrax letters, bearing the same Trenton postmark, were dated October 9, three weeks after the first mailing. The letters were addressed to two U. The Daschle letter was opened by an aide, Grant Leslie, on October 15, after which the government mail service was immediately shut down.
