On July 21, for instance, police responded shortly after 11:15 p.m. That growing threat has been particularly pronounced in the nation's capital, where the federal trial court - long accustomed to high-profile, politically-charged cases - has been handling the wave of criminal prosecutions stemming from the January 6 Capitol attack. The biological terrorism led to five deaths.Īrriving just months apart, the packages sent to DC's federal courthouse served as reminders of threats judges are increasingly facing across the country. The succession of suspicious packages was reminiscent of anthrax-laced letters that - sent via US mail - targeted government offices and newsrooms shortly after the 9/11 attacks. Two previous suspicious packages, sent in February and April, contained substances also deemed to be nonhazardous, according to people familiar with those incidents. On August 16, another package with a powdery substance evaded the courthouse screening process and reached the chambers of Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly - a rare breach that unnerved several judges and courthouse staff, according to people familiar with the previously unreported incident.Ī spokesperson for the Washington, DC, Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department confirmed an August hazmat response to the federal courthouse and said the substance in the suspicious package turned out to be baby powder. ![]() It was not the first time such a suspicious package had arrived at the courthouse, and it would not be the last. Immediately, the mailroom staff alerted security and shut down airflow. While sorting mail, courthouse staff cut open a package to discover a suspicious powdery substance. Unbeknownst to them was a dreaded development unfolding floors below. Gathered on an upper floor, many in the randomly-summoned group waited patiently - if apprehensively - for their turn to field questions from the judge, prosecutors, and defense lawyers. On a Monday in late April, dozens of Washington, DC, residents arrived at a federal courthouse for jury selection in the trial of a retired New York City copaccused of assaulting a police officer during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. In another incident, police responded to a judge's home after receiving a hoax "swatting" call. The US Marshals Service has been responding to a remarkable rise in threats against federal judges.Īt least three times this year, the federal court in Washington, DC, received suspicious packages. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images ![]() Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington, DC.
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