A man was arrested and charged on Friday in connection with about 100 envelopes containing threatening letters and a suspicious powdery substance mailed from Oregon to members of Congress and the news media, authorities said. A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Christopher Lee Carlson, 39, of the Portland area, with one count of mailing a threatening communication to a member of Congress and one count of mailing a letter threatening to use a biological weapon to a US senator.
Carlson was arrested at his home on Friday morning, the US Capitol Police said in a statement after an investigation it conducted with the FBI and US Postal Inspection Service. All the envelopes examined so far , which were postmarked in Portland and contained an unidentified white powder , have tested negative for any toxic substances, the US Attorney's Office in Portland said in a statement announcing the indictment.