FDP minister receives suspicious letter - BKA intervenes

Created: 12/23/2021, 4:46 PM

By: Luisa Billmayer

Federal Minister of Education Stark-Watzinger received a suspicious letter, which led to a police operation.

(Archive) © Ina Fassbender / dpa

A letter with a suspicious substance was apparently supposed to reach Ampel Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger.

The BKA is investigating.

Hofheim am Taunus - A suspicious envelope with an unknown substance triggered a police operation in Bettina Stark-Watzinger's constituency office.

As Federal Minister of Education, the FDP politician is a member of the new cabinet of the Ampel government.

The Federal Criminal Police Office was switched on, said a spokeswoman for the Hessian FDP * on Thursday, according to dpa

on request in Wiesbaden.

Stark-Watzinger is also the chairwoman of the Hessen-FDP.

Suspicious letter to FDP politician: Area around the office temporarily blocked

As the police announced on Wednesday, December 22nd, an office worker came into contact with the substance from the anonymously sent envelope.

The man was reportedly unharmed.

The area around the office has been temporarily closed.

"According to the current state of knowledge, there was no risk to third parties at any time," said the police.

It is not yet known which substance was in the envelope and the motivation for sending the letter.

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Anthrax attacks 2001: letters with anthrax pathogen sent

In particular, the anthrax attacks in the USA, in which people were attacked via mail, attracted worldwide attention around 20 years ago.

On September 18, 2001, five letters were sent to three news channels and two newspapers.

The envelopes contained brown granules: anthrax - bacteria that can cause anthrax infection.

On October 9, 2001, two more letters landed in the mail.

The envelopes were intended for two US Democratic Senators: Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy.

The letters addressed to the politicians contained the anthrax bacterium in an even higher dose.

Not only the people who opened the letters felt the effects of the pathogen.

It is assumed that the content was also passed on via other letters in the postal service.

22 people became infected with the disease.

Five people died as a result of the attack: a man who worked in one of the addressed media houses, two employees of a post office and two women.

Where the two women came into contact with the anthrax pathogen could not be clearly established.