Arrest of a Suspect Following Suspicious Poisonous Letters Sent to Trump and Mattis

U.S. security forces have arrested a former Navy soldier on suspicion of sending suspicious poisonous letters to the White House and the Pentagon. According to the Pentagon, William Allen, 39, was arrested in Logan. This American citizen is expected to be formally charged on Friday with sending the suspicious letters. The arrest of William Clyde Allen III comes after U.S. officials reported the discovery of letters suspected to contain the deadly poison ricin. One of these letters was sent to Donald Trump, the President of the United States. The U.S. Secret Service, responsible for protecting American officials, stated that the letter sent to the White House did not reach its destination. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also stated that two suspicious letters were discovered at the Department of Defense's postal service center, addressed to Jim Mattis and John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations. The content of the letters, including the one sent to Trump, is unclear. According to records from the U.S. Navy, Allen served in this branch of the five main armed forces from 1998 to 2002. When he left service, he held the rank of E-2, which is roughly equivalent to a private in the Iranian military. Ricin, derived from the seeds of the castor bean plant, can enter the human body through inhalation, ingestion, or injection and is thousands of times more toxic than deadly cyanide. In 2013, U.S. security officials also reported sending letters containing the same poison to Barack Obama, the then-President, and a senator.