Forgetful hitman? Ricin found in a Vegas hotel room...

[Manedwolf]

Whole packet of the stuff. NASTY stuff, too. Incurable poison.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ricin, a deadly poison, was discovered in a hotel room in Las Vegas but officials don't believe the incident is terrorism related, media reported on Friday.

Las Vegas police were called to an Extended Stay America Hotel on Thursday after a suspicious substance was found in one of the rooms, the reports said.

Preliminary tests indicated the substance was ricin, which can be deadly even in small quantities. Results from further tests were expected later on Friday.

Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating along with the Las Vegas police. "This event does not appear to be terrorism related," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said in a statement.

Three police officers, three hotel employees and another person were taken to the hospital for testing and observation. All appeared to be in good condition, authorities said.

Ricin is made from castor beans and in proper doses can be used for cancer treatments. It attacks cells, preventing them from making necessary proteins, and an amount the size of a grain of salt can be deadly.

In 2003 an envelope containing ricin was sent to the White House but was intercepted by the Secret Service. Ricin also was found in a similar envelope at a South Carolina postal facility.

It also was detected in a Senate mailroom in 2004.

In 1978 dissident Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov was killed after a passerby in London jabbed him with an umbrella that injected a tiny ricin-filled pellet.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2915050420080229

What I wonder is why the instant assumption that it wasn't terrorism? Imagine that stuff spread in one of the big casinos?

[Jamisjockey]

Because that would cause instant panic.  People would be freaked out and would cut back on visiting public places.  At a time when we're in a recession not in a recession, that could be damaging to the economy!

[Sergeant Bob]

In 1978 dissident Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov was killed after a passerby in London jabbed him with an umbrella that injected a tiny ricin-filled pellet.

The Penguin strikes again!

[AJ Dual]

Because that would cause instant panic.  People would be freaked out and would cut back on visiting public places.  At a time when we're in a recession not in a recession, that could be damaging to the economy!

I'm thinking along those lines, but that it's for a extortion plot. "Leave five mil in unmarked bills at xyz, or I leave more Ricin at your casino..." etc. etc. etc.

Or it's a lone kook with an axe to grind, or just the kind of guy who thought it was "neat" to have some. IMO, poison doesn't mesh well with the Jihad/Martyr mindset. Eating Vegas buffet food along with the victims just does not seem to have the desired "dying in battle against the infidel"-actor that's required, and which vehicles, bombs, and lots of fire provides.

I know Al-Queida/Taliban caves had Ricin in them, and it may have been tried in chemical shells during the Iraq/Iran war, but OTOH, I've never heard anything stating AQ had an actionable plan in place to use that Ricin either.

[Jamisjockey]

Maybe not Jihadis, but homegrown groups....
Kluxers, anti-abortionists, and cultists have all done silly stuff like this in the past.

[The Viking]

Well, everone can't be as professional as this guy:

[Manedwolf]

Well, everone can't be as professional as this guy:

Nice suit, but WTF, AMT hardballers. POS guns. 

[Harold Tuttle]

There is a big NASCAR race in LV this week

[Perd Hapley]

As one who has swallowed Bush's Kool-aid on the war on terror, Iraq, etc., I'm disappointed in my fellow war-mongers.  Where's the terror, the paranoia, the calls for martial law, the anti-Muslim bigotry?  Why haven't we invaded any new countries over this?  I thought our glorious Messiah-President Bush had us all worked up into a frenzy about these things.     


I'm going to go and have Onstar installed in my car, and beat up a Sikh.  Because somebody ought to be doing something.

[Balog]

I wonder how pure this stuff was? Since the process of deriving it from castor is fairly well known it would not surprise me if this was some dork making a crap-tastic home grown version.

Too bad it's Extended Stay America; I love those hotels. Good price and much better suites than other bargain places.

[AJ Dual]

Well, everone can't be as professional as this guy:

If those 1911's are to scale, "The Hitman" is one seriously tiny dude...
I guess "Napoleon Complex" explains it all...

[Manedwolf]

Well, everone can't be as professional as this guy:

If those 1911's are to scale, "The Hitman" is one seriously tiny dude...
I guess "Napoleon Complex" explains it all...

They're AMT hardballers. Absolute junk in most cases, wouldn't feed hollowpoints, lots of other problems, all part of AMT's inconsistency with quality.

And yes, they're ridiculously big.

[Balog]

How many times do I have to tell you people; quite posting the same fricking picture like 15 goddamn times in the same thread!  Big waste of bandwidth because you're too lazy to copy/paste instead of hitting the "Quote" button. 

[Manedwolf]

How many times do I have to tell you people; quite posting the same fricking picture like 15 goddamn times in the same thread!  Big waste of bandwidth because you're too lazy to copy/paste instead of hitting the "Quote" button. 

You gotta get broadband. Whole thread just appears at once for me.

[AJ Dual]

How many times do I have to tell you people; quite posting the same fricking picture like 15 goddamn times in the same thread!  Big waste of bandwidth because you're too lazy to copy/paste instead of hitting the "Quote" button. 

(Snort) 

The file is sourced at the same URL so it only downloads once. Then it's just redisplayed out of your local browser cache.

[Finch]

They did find a few Castor beans in the motel room.

[geronimotwo]

As one who has swallowed Bush's Kool-aid on the war on terror, Iraq, etc., I'm disappointed in my fellow war-mongers.  Where's the terror, the paranoia, the calls for martial law, the anti-Muslim bigotry?  Why haven't we invaded any new countries over this?  I thought our glorious Messiah-President Bush had us all worked up into a frenzy about these things.   

i think the admin has realized they can't call everything terror related as long as they are "winning" the war on terror. if this had happened next year after they have given the election to obama...........

[Perd Hapley]

Wrong.  The administration has never gone about labeling every suspicious or violent act as terrorism.  Even when they very easily could have.  Do you ever hear Bush discussing the two Muslim men who plowed into crowds with their vehicles a while back?  Or the LAX shooting, some years prior?  Or the DC "snipers"? 

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Wrong.  The administration has never gone about labeling every suspicious or violent act as terrorism.

I think that's what the other Geronimo was saying. Since we are "fighting 'em over there so they don't come over here", admitting/saying there was terrorism stateside could be construed by some as saying "Iraq's just creating more terrorists and not protecting us here at home." Thus the powers that be say it's not terrorism related.

[Manedwolf]

Guy in coma who will likely die due to ricin intake is ID'ed as Roger Von Bergendorff. A copy of The Anarchist's Cookbook was found in the room. Several full vials of ricin, well enough to kill a lot of people if dumped into an air return duct in a large casino. But no, this is not a terrorist incident, riiiiiight?

Due to the fact that there was a dog that died of starvation in the room (poor dog!), which is a "dirty, forbidden" animal for Islamic extremists, I'm going to guess either extreme leftist Berzerkely moonbat or Paulbot, in this case. And he got himself by inhaling it.

That is, unless this guy was just making it for a third party for money, a third party who may or may not have picked up an additional quantity already, who knows? Terribly sloppy assumption on the part of investigators there so far, I'd think.

Suey said people could have any number of reasons for wanting to make ricin.

It could be experimental just to see if they can, she said.

Yes, because people generally check into a suite hotel in Vegas and play amateur biochemist with bioweapons all the time in their room?

[AJ Dual]

Suey said people could have any number of reasons for wanting to make ricin.

It could be experimental just to see if they can, she said.

Yes, because people generally check into a suite hotel in Vegas and play amateur biochemist with bioweapons all the time in their room?

Actually, looking at the number of people jumping off roofs, shooting propane tanks at too close a range, car surfing and running into telephone poles, playing with venomous animals etc. on YouTube and it's ilk all over the Interwebnetz I would not be shocked if that ultimately were the explanation. 

[Brad Johnson]

Yes, because people generally check into a suite hotel in Vegas and play amateur biochemist with bioweapons all the time in their room?

Never underestimate the power of stupidity.

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

Wrong.  The administration has never gone about labeling every suspicious or violent act as terrorism.

I think that's what the other Geronimo was saying. Since we are "fighting 'em over there so they don't come over here", admitting/saying there was terrorism stateside could be construed by some as saying "Iraq's just creating more terrorists and not protecting us here at home." Thus the powers that be say it's not terrorism related.

So, if the administration points out acts of terrorism, they're fear-mongering.  If they don't talk about them, they're trying to pretend there is no terrorism happening here.  Dam dif yadoo, dam dif yadont.  That is the life of a Republican. 

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

So, if the administration points out acts of terrorism, they're fear-mongering.  If they don't talk about them, they're trying to pretend there is no terrorism happening here.

Right. What more can I say? Conspiracies are fun. They allow you to take any and every side of the equation. 

[Balog]

How many times do I have to tell you people; quite posting the same fricking picture like 15 goddamn times in the same thread!  Big waste of bandwidth because you're too lazy to copy/paste instead of hitting the "Quote" button. 

(Snort) 

The file is sourced at the same URL so it only downloads once. Then it's just redisplayed out of your local browser cache.

/shrug I recall the THR mods bitching about people reposting huge swathes of useless text to add a single sentence that could just as easily have been posted without the preceding text. To my ignorant mind if it was bad over there it's probably just as bad here.

Even admitting that I don't know that much about computers and it may not be an issue, it's still really, really annoying.