Illinois Man Charged With Mailing White Powder Letters to Members of Congress
Photo: NBC NewsA federal criminal complaint unsealed Monday charges Matthew Unglesbee of Quincy, Illinois, with mailing at least four letters containing a white powder to members of Congress. He faces counts of mailing threatening communications and false information and hoaxes. The envelopes were postmarked in Springfield on Oct. 19 and carried his name in the return address. One note read "HAH enjoy the gift." Most reports gave his age as 37, though one said 36. FBI agents interviewed him at home Sunday. He said the powder was salt and that he acted after hearing about similar mailings in the news earlier this month. Testing showed the substance was not dangerous. According to the complaint, he knew recipients might think it was anthrax and that this could bring a hazmat response. He denied involvement in earlier mailings, which the FBI is investigating separately. Agents found a fifth, empty, unmailed envelope addressed to a member of Congress. He was due in court Monday, with a detention hearing set for 3 p.m. Wednesday in Springfield.
The right-leaning Washington Examiner opens with the Justice Department's announcement and the arrest. It adds the Wednesday detention hearing, says it is unclear which Illinois offices received letters, and places the case within a trend of suspicious mailings that the FBI, Postal Inspection Service and Capitol Police are investigating. Its headline calls the case a hoax. Newsmax runs the Associated Press lede with a shorter headline about sending powder to lawmakers. The left-leaning NBC News and HuffPost carry the same core charges, "HAH enjoy the gift" note and salt claim. NBC adds the "HA HA" note, his denial of the earlier mailings, the fifth envelope and an anonymous tipster. HuffPost stresses the unclear motive and his anthrax remarks, and places the recipients in Chicago. NewsNation's excerpt matches the wire lede.
How the sides differ Right sources stress the Justice Department, the detention hearing and the wider mailing trend; left sources add FBI interview details, the fifth envelope and the tipster.
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HuffPost and NBC News lead with the charges and the "HAH enjoy the gift" note, then add FBI interview details, his anthrax remarks, the unclear motive and, in NBC's case, the tipster and fifth envelope.
NewsNation's excerpt carries the wire-service lede: a 37-year-old Illinois man charged with sending threatening white powder letters to Congress, including the "HAH enjoy the gift" note.
The Washington Examiner cites the Justice Department, the detention hearing and the wider mailing trend, calling it a hoax; Newsmax runs the wire lede about the charged 37-year-old and the note.