HIV-Infected Blood Sent To Obama [View All]

[babylonsister]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/27/hiv-infected-blood-sent-t_n_170542.html

Sky News reports that a man has been arrested for allegedly sending President Obama and his staff envelopes containing HIV-infected blood.

Saad Hussein, an Ethiopian refugee in his late 20s, sent a number of items to the offices of the Illinois government in the weeks before the US President's inauguration, according to court documents.

One envelope contained a letter with reddish stains and an admission ticket for Mr Obama's election night celebration in Grant Park, Chicago.

Court documents claim Hussein told FBI agents he is "very sick with HIV" and cut his fingers with a razor so he could bleed on the letter.

More details from the Cleveland Leader:

A spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said that this is only the second time that HIV-infected blood has been sent with malicious intent through the U.S. mail system. <...>

After the envelope was opened, Hazmat teams were called in. The offices of the Illinois Department on Aging, as well as the Dept. of Revenue were locked down for about two hours. 300 staff members were thus stuck in their offices.

Using his brother as an interpreter, Hussein told the FBI that he was an "admirer" of Obama. He also said that he was "seeking help from the government", and that he was hoping to obtain tickets to the inauguration in Washington D.C.