A Spore on the Grassy Knoll: An insider's account of the 2001 anthrax mailings

In the fall of 2001, shortly after the 9/11 terrorists attacks, five envelopes packed with the pathogen Bacillus anthracis were sent through the United States Postal Service. Bacillus anthracis is the bacterium that causes the deadly anthrax disease. These letters killed five people and seventeen others contracted the anthrax disease. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Postal Inspection Service formed a Task Force and, for the next eight years, they investigated this crime. The consequences of this attack are far reaching and persistent. Most government agencies have been profoundly impacted as a result of the 2001 anthrax mailing. This short book reflects the author’s first hand experiences with the anthrax attacks of 2001 (the Amerithrax case). Over the past twelve years, the author has worked on this case from three separate and vastly different positions; each providing a unique piece to this colossal puzzle. The first four chapters of this book illustrate the author’s interactions with this investigation from three distinct perspectives. Chapters five through ten provide key details about the Amerithrax case with regard to the investigative, intelligence, forensic, and attribution elements. Chapters eleven and twelve, describe the FBI’s missteps and continuing persistent public questions. The last two chapters provide an overview of the United States government’s programs developed in response to the anthrax mailings.