Suspect in White House ricin case arrested trying to cross the US-Canadian border with gun.

 

Stock photo of the White House. The Hill/Getty.

A suspect in the White House ricin case has been arrested trying to cross the US-Canadian border with a gun. The Hill. The suspect was arrested at a border station while carrying a gun. An envelope containing the ricin was intercepted at the White House sorting facility. The suspect hasn't been identified but has been confirmed to be a woman. Canada and the United States are working together on the case. 

My Comment:

Just a quick update to yesterday's post. It looks like they caught someone rather quickly and the threat is now over. However, it looks like the threat was a bit bigger then I thought it was. I said that using ricin this way isn't effective but it appears that this woman had a firearm as well. The threat to the President himself remained low, it's not sure if she was going to target someone else. 

Still, it doesn't seem like this person was very smart. Not only did she use a method of attack that was doomed to failure, she also got caught on the border while armed. She had basically no chance of succeeding... in whatever the hell she was trying to do. 

I am somewhat surprised that this turned out to be a woman. I shouldn't be, poison is often the weapon of choice for women. What is more surprising is that she was armed with a gun. Not only is that a rare choice of a weapon, she's also Canadian. Where did she get the gun? It's unclear if it was a handgun or a rifle, but it's not that easy to get a gun in Canada. Of course it doesn't matter too much if you are a criminal as there are always sources of illegal firearms. 

Regardless, this woman is going away for a long time. Trying to assassinate the President of the United States is a serious crime and using the mail to do it is even worse. We take mail crimes very seriously, but that's not the only problem. She will also face weapons charges and I am thinking she will never be a free person again.

As for motive, who knows? She could be some random crazy person or she could have done this for some political reason. Without more information it's just speculation. However, the important thing is that she got caught.