Anthrax scare at New York-based Journal News following gun owner map
Hazmat crews responded to the Journal News this morning following the discovery of white powder inside an envelope.
White Plains Police Commissioner David Chong said initial preliminary results of tests on the substance showed it to be non-toxic. The envelope was handled by a worker in the mail room of the Journal
News’ office at 1133 Westchester Avenue in White Plains, who was
decontaminated by Hazmat, Chong said.
He would not comment on who the
envelope was addressed to.
The newspaper has been at the center of controversy following its decision to publish a map last week which included the names and addresses of registered gun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties, just north of New York City.
Critics and gun-owner groups have called for an advertising boycott of the paper.
“This wanton act by the Journal News has put in harm’s way tens of thousands of lawful license-holders,” the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association said in a statement on Monday.
“This action can only be viewed as an attempt to intimidate and bully lawful, gun-owning citizens,” it said.
The fallout from the map prompted the paper to hire armed guards to protect the company office.
A blogger on the website New Rochelle Talk posted his own interactive map featuring the photos, names, addresses and phone numbers of employees of the Journal News. A Facebook page calling for a boycott of the paper has garnered more than 1,000 followers.
