In the weeks following the September 11 terrorist attacks, D.C. and the U.S. Postal Service faced another type of terrorist attacks anthrax mailings.
Anthrax – a deadly bacteria – was sent via anonymous letters to congressional office buildings in D.C. and news agencies in Florida and New York. Although the attacks were targeted at politicians and journalists, it was also an attack on local postal workers. The Brentwood Postal Facility in D.C., where they sort mail for elected officials, was hit the hardest. And despite many workers falling ill, they were encouraged to keep the offices running.
In total, five people died – two of which were D.C. postal workers – and 17 people were sickened during the anthrax attacks. It was the worst biological attack in U.S. history to date.
Letters containing anthrax spores that were mailed to victims. (Priyanka Tilve/City Cast DC)
The attacks sparked a nine-year-long investigation that included over 1,000 suspects, 10,000 witnesses, and a slew of chemical and biology experts.
The FBI was most concerned that it was another Al Qaeda plot. However, after analyzing the anthrax spores, they traced its production to a U.S. bio-defense lab.
The likely suspect – Dr. Bruce Ivins – committed suicide soon after and the case still remains open. After the attacks, the Brentwood Postal Facility was closed for years for decontamination. It was reopened as the “Curseen-Morris Mail Processing and Distribution Center” in honor of the two postal workers who died.
