Sacramento Area Local News

SACRAMENTO (CBS13/AP) ― The Star Tribune of Minneapolis on Thursday became the latest news organization to receive a package labeled "anthrax," a day after the FBI arrested a Sacramento man on suspicion of sending athrax hoax letters to the media including CBS13.

The package sent to the Minneapolice paper included a compact disc with a picture of Colin Powell on it. Police said they didn't believe the substance was toxic, but they weren't taking any chances.

"At this point the package is in an isolated area of the building. We are going to treat it as if it is a hazardous substance until we know that it's not," said Minneapolis police spokesman Bill Palmer.

FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson said it's possible the package is one the hoax letters labeled "anthrax" that were sent to newspapers and TV stations around the country.

Marc M. Keyser, 66, sent more than 120 envelopes containing a compact disc that had a packet of sugar labeled "Anthrax Sample" along with a biohazard symbol, the FBI said in a news release. The CD was titled "Anthrax: Shock & Awe Terror."

None of the packets has so far tested positive for hazardous material, the agency said. Authorities did not say what was on the CD.

More mailings will probably be received over the next few days, authorities warned. Recipients should contact their local FBI office, said FBI agent Steve Dupre.

Dupre said the arrest is not connected to another series of bogus mailings containing a white powder that were sent to financial institutions and announced by the FBI last week.

Keyser was taken into custody without incident at his home in Sacramento on three counts of sending a hoax letter, the FBI said. At least some of the packages had Keyser's return address on them, said Dupre.

Keyser is being held at the Sacramento County jail and was expected to make his first court appearance Thursday. It wasn't known Wednesday evening whether he had a lawyer.

The investigation began after The Atlantic magazine received a letter Monday, Dupre said. The Charlotte Observer newspaper in North Carolina received an envelope Tuesday.

CBS13 received a similar package Tuesday, and other local media outlets, including KCRA-TV, KXTV-TV and The Sacramento Bee have also reported receiving suspicious packages Wednesday.

Packages were also sent to The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper and the office of Republican Congressman George Radanovich in Modesto.

The FBI has also confirmed that a package was received by a McDonald's restaurant in Sacramento.

Radanovich's office was evacuated early Wednesday after a staffer opened the mailing. Some employees went to a hospital for precautionary examinations and were released later with a clean bill of health.

Radanovich spokesman Spencer Pederson said the congressman was at a meeting in Fresno when the package was opened. Pederson said later Wednesday that the office has been cleaned as if the substance were anthrax.

Anthrax mailed to congressional offices and others in 2001 killed five people and sickened 17.

Dupre said the arrest is not connected to another series of bogus mailings containing a white powdery substance that were sent to financial institutions and announced by the FBI last week.

Marc Keyser has been an activist for AIDS and against terrorism, and has had several brushes with the law over the past two decades.

Keyser was investigated as recently as last year for mailing a small aerosol can labeled "anthrax" to the Sacramento News & Review, but later apologized, saying he just wanted to draw attention to the dangers of anthrax.

The FBI did not file charges in that case.

Keyser confessed to CBS13 in 1998 to sending out bogus $76 bills to 4,000 people that encouraged people to call the governor's campaign, Wells Fargo, and KFBK Radio. He said he wanted to get attention so then-Governor Pete Wilson would declare an AIDS state of emergency.

In 1991, CBS13 investigated Keyser and his organization, the AIDS Action League, for how they were spending money meant to help AIDS patients.

It's unclear if Keyser served jail time for the '91 and '98 incidents.

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