Feds Arrest Utah Man In Ricin Case
Oct 3, 2018, 7:53 PM | Updated: Oct 4, 2018, 1:00 am
LOGAN, Utah – A Logan man is under arrest in connection with suspicious letters, first thought to contain the poison ricin, that were sent to Pentagon officials and the White House, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah.
Wednesday afternoon, local and federal law enforcement officers descended on a home located at 380 North and 200 West in Logan.
Based on probable cause, federal prosecutors authorized the arrest of 39-year-old William Clyde Allen III in connection with the ricin case, according to a spokesperson.
UPDATE: William Clyde Allen, III of Logan, Utah, has been taken into custody in the #Ricin case, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah. @KSL5TV @kslnewsradio @KSLcom #KSLTV pic.twitter.com/IajbG9hF39
— Ladd Egan (@laddegan) October 3, 2018
“We anticipate filing a complaint Friday in federal court in Salt Lake City,” said Melodie Rydalch with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Salt Lake City.
Agents closed the street for the entire block and could be seen walking around in protective suits and face masks. An aerial view from KSL Chopper 5 showed investigators in the backyard of the home.
“As there are potentially hazardous chemicals involved, we ask that the public stay away from this location during the entirety of the operation,” Logan Police said in a statement. “No wider threat to public safety exists at this time.”
On Tuesday, government officials said that numerous envelopes suspected of containing ricin had been intercepted. Two of them were addressed to Defense Secretary James Mattis and the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson.
The Pentagon said Wednesday that a preliminary analysis showed the substance in the envelopes was from castor seeds—which are used to make the highly toxic ricin—but not ricin itself.
The Secret Service confirmed that a suspicious envelope addressed to President Donald Trump was received on Monday.
“The envelope was not received at the White House, nor did it ever enter the White House,” the statement said. “As a matter of practice, the Secret Service does not comment regarding matters of Protective Intelligence. However, in this instance, we can confirm that we are working jointly with our law enforcement partners to fully investigate this matter.”
-NBC News Channel and The Associated Press contributed to this report
