Envelopes with White Powder Found at Temples

November 14, 2008 in Religion by Greg | 4 comments

Today, envelopes containing white powder have been found at LDS temples in Utah and California. Here is the news story from the Associated Press:

Salt Lake Temple Letters containing a suspicious white powder were sent Thursday to Mormon temples in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City that were the sites of protests against the church’s support of California’s gay marriage ban.

The temple in the Westwood area of Los Angeles was evacuated before a hazardous materials crew determined the envelope’s contents were not toxic, said FBI spokesman Jason Pack.

The temple in downtown Salt Lake City, where the church is based, received a similar envelope containing a white powder that spilled onto a clerk’s hand.

The room was decontaminated and the envelope taken by the FBI for testing. The clerk showed no signs of illness, but the scare shut down a building at Temple Square for more than an hour, said Scott Freitag, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City Fire Department.

None of the writing on the envelope was threatening, and the church received no calls or messages related to the package, Freitag said.

Protests in recent days have targeted the Mormon church, which encouraged its members to fight the recently passed amendment banning gay marriage in California.

Authorities are looking into several theories on who sent the letters and why, Pack said.

Anthrax mailed as a white powder to Washington lawmakers and media outlets killed five people and sickened 17 just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Periodic hoaxes modeled on the anthrax mailings have popped up since then but usually prove harmless.1

Sources:

  1. “White powder sent to Mormon temples in Utah, LA”. Google News – Associated Press. 14 Nov 2008.↩

Tags: Marriage, Temple

  1. Jon W.No Gravatar on November 14, 2008 at 9:21 am

    Things are honestly getting out of hand.

  2. GregNo Gravatar on November 14, 2008 at 10:19 am

    Thanks for your comment Jon. I agree with your assessment. I doubt we have seen the end of this.

  3. Nick LiterskiNo Gravatar on November 14, 2008 at 4:42 pm

    LDS need to quit staging these phony anthrax letters, alleged Book of Mormon burnings, etc., in their desperate attempt to portray themselves as “victims” of gays. Sound like a silly accusation? Right now, the evidence is JUST AS SOLID for such a conspiracy, as it is for blaming Prop 8 opponents.

  4. GregNo Gravatar on November 17, 2008 at 9:31 am

    Thanks for your comments Nick. By the way, I want to thank you for the LDS Temple web site you had a few years ago with quotes about the temple and the endowment on it. It was a wonderful resource.

    I am sorry you feel that the media is portraying Mormons as “victims” (your quote) of gays. If you feel that strongly about this, you should contact the Associated Press and/or the writer of the story above.