Nov 21, 2007 4:52 pm US/Eastern
Daily News, Sharpton Receive White Powder
NEW YORK (AP) ―
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Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network and the New York Daily News were among a half-dozen entities receiving envelopes containing white powder, the FBI said. (file)
AP
A state prison inmate mailed white powder to the New York Daily News, the Rev. Al Sharpton and others, but initial tests indicated that the substance was harmless, the FBI said Wednesday.
The FBI traced the mail to a prisoner in New York, who admitted he sent powder in letters to more than a half dozen people, said FBI spokesman James Margolin.
A Daily News spokeswoman, Jennifer Mauer, said that the newspaper received an envelope in the mail Tuesday containing what looked like talcum powder.
"We took all the necessary precautions and notified the authorities immediately," Mauer said.
A law enforcement official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing, said a letter in the envelopes was rambling and full of grievances.
He also said that the sender had included his return address on the envelopes, and that preliminary test results indicated that the white substance was talcum powder.
Margolin said the FBI warned recipients after first learning of the threat.
Sharpton's attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, said Sharpton and his staff were advised not to open mail sent from a specific address "because it is possible that it could contain dangerous materials."
Sharpton's spokeswoman, Rachel Noerdlinger, said Sharpton was "extremely concerned" and his National Action Network was notifying its offices around the country.
Sharpton told the AP last month that he receives racist mail and phone calls from time to time. He said police installed a panic button in his Harlem office and placed squad cars outside his business and home for several weeks this year.
"I'm a public figure. I understand it," he said at the time. "But the people who work for me are subjected to all kinds of danger."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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