Government warns anthrax hoaxes are not a joke

WASHINGTON -- Declaring the threat of bioterrorism is no joking matter, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday those who fake anthrax or other terrorist scares will face federal prosecution. He announced the indictment of one such man in Connecticut. \nFalse threats of anthrax attacks are "grotesque transgressions of the public trust," Ashcroft said at a news conference. \nAshcroft said the hoaxes tax the resources of an already overburdened law enforcement system. \n"The threat of bioterrorism is no joking matter," the attorney general said. \nHe detailed the prosecution of a Connecticut state employee who sat by quietly as a state agency building was evacuated for what the man allegedly knew to be a false threat involving white powder. \nIt is a federal crime to threaten to use biological agents or toxins. \nJoseph A. Faryniarz, an employee of Connecticut's environmental agency, told agency security guards on Oct. 11 that he found a powdery substance on a paper towel under some paperwork near his computer. On the towel was written "ANTHRAX," according to a criminal complaint. \nSecurity officials alerted the police and all 800 agency employees were evacuated. \nTwelve employees were forced to disrobe and be washed down with a decontamination solution, Ashcroft said. \nFaryniarz was given a chance to clear up the matter without jeopardizing his job. He told FBI agents that he thought the incident was a "bad joke" and said two colleagues might be involved. \nHe later acknowledged that he had been untruthful and said he knew the incident was a hoax even before the FBI arrived on the scene because another individual not named in the complaint had claimed responsibility. The two-day evacuation of the building cost taxpayers $1.5 million, Ashcroft said. \nThe FBI has received since Oct. 1 more than 2,300 reports of incidents or suspected incidents involving anthrax. Most have been false alarms or practical jokes, FBI Director Robert Mueller said. \nHe said the FBI has not ruled out the possibility that anthrax exposures around the country are the result of terrorism, although no direct link to organized terrorism has yet been found. \nBut similarities in the handwriting found in letters sent to Sen. Tom Daschle's office and to NBC in New York are being investigated, Mueller said. Tests showing where the anthrax came from are still ongoing. \nMueller said the FBI may not have moved fast enough to investigate a suspicious letter sent to NBC in New York that turned out to test negative for anthrax. \n"There were missteps at the outset," said Mueller. "We did not, as quickly as we would have liked, analyzed an initial specimen from a letter that turned out to be negative." \nHe said the problem did not affect the investigation but added that FBI field offices have been instructed to make sure suspicious materials are analyzed promptly.