Letter addressed to Rick Snyder contained 'granular substance,' official says
MACKINAC ISLAND — A Lansing mailroom employee experienced a "burning sensation" this afternoon after he opened a letter that was addressed to Gov. Rick Snyder and included a "granular substance," a spokeswoman for the governor told reporters today on Mackinac Island.
An aide shows Gov. Rick Snyder a message on a smartphone at the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference this afternoon on the porch of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
Nathan Bomey | AnnArbor.com
Emergency officials determined the man did not have to be hospitalized, but the room was evacuated to allow investigators to analyze the scene, Snyder communications director Geralyn Lasher said. The governor personally called the employee to make sure he was OK.
Lasher wouldn't say whether the letter, which was addressed to Snyder, contained any inflammatory statements regarding the Republican and former Ann Arbor venture capitalist. She said the substance did not have the same powdery feeling associated with anthrax.
Snyder is attending the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, where business leaders are discussing various issues facing the state.
Snyder's approval ratings have fallen in recent weeks as some voters have become angered by his cuts to K-12 education spending, plan to adopt a phase-in pension tax and cut business taxes.
Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.
Comments
Ann English
Fri, Jun 3, 2011 : 11:31 p.m.
I wonder if the substance could be Lewis Lye. Lye is caustic.
snoopdog
Fri, Jun 3, 2011 : 1:01 a.m.
Snyder's spokeswoman said: " She said the substance did not have the same powdery feeling associated with anthrax." Wow, how would she know how anthrax feels "to the touch" ! Simply amazing. Good Day
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 11:20 p.m.
"True, GoBlue1984. You can't mistreat people so horribly and expect no repercussions. While people like us dream of throwing him out of office with a recall, it just takes one person on the edge to do something crazy." Sentiments like this could not be more wrong. He hasn't suspended habeas corpus (like Lincoln did). He hasn't put people in concentration camps (like FDR did). He has undertaken policies that people (me included) think will badly harm the state, but he has done so through the legislative process. Elections have consequences, and what he has done was VERY predictable. But there is NO EXCUSE for this kind of abuse of ANY public official, whether president, governor, or school board member. It is not "understandable." It IS despicable. Good Night and Good Luck
Will Warner
Fri, Jun 3, 2011 : 12:59 a.m.
mmppcc -- didn't we just go through national soul-searching vis-à-vis overwrought political rhetoric re Tucson?
Will Warner
Fri, Jun 3, 2011 : 12:49 a.m.
Well said, Ghost.
mmppcc
Fri, Jun 3, 2011 : 12:17 a.m.
Justifying abuse? Implicitly supporting crime? There are a lot of people who are being hurt by this administration, and not all of them are mentally/emotionally stable enough to realize that recalls and elections are the civilized way of removing people from office. If you disagree, that's your choice, but don't hurl accusations at me because I acknowledge the obvious.
Kai Petainen
Fri, Jun 3, 2011 : 12:14 a.m.
well said ghost.
DFSmith
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 11:45 p.m.
Agree with you fully, Edward Murrow"s Ghost. posts like mmppcc's which implicitly support , encourage and apologize for law breaking and the committing of crimes are beyond the pale.
Tom Teague
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 11:33 p.m.
Couldn't agree more. Political leanings are not justifications to physically abuse anyone.
mmppcc
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 10:25 p.m.
True, GoBlue1984. You can't mistreat people so horribly and expect no repercussions. While people like us dream of throwing him out of office with a recall, it just takes one person on the edge to do something crazy.
mmppcc
Fri, Jun 3, 2011 : 12:19 a.m.
The only person on here who said anything about engaging in terrorism being ok, is you, DF.
DFSmith
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 11:43 p.m.
mmppcc- that Gov Snyder is "mistreating people" is a false assumption at best. Believe such crazy ideas, and then engaging is terrorism ecomes OK, since the guvnor is a bad man, eh?
Huron74
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 10:21 p.m.
With all the hatred directed at our gov since he took office 16 weeks ago this comes as no surprise. I hope the mailroom guy is ok.
mmppcc
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 10:29 p.m.
Sad. It's always the poor slob just trying to get by who ends up the victim. What kind of an idiot would think he opens his own mail?
Tom Teague
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 9:58 p.m.
Why not focus on the reality of the crime and the affected state employee rather than politics? Do you think that law enforcement agencies automatically excluded Republicans, Independents and members of other parties from their list of suspects?
John B.
Fri, Jun 3, 2011 : 7:14 p.m.
Good point. Quite often, crimes of this sort are from extremists of the victim's own political party (or Nationality). Think of the right-wing extremists in Israel that have assassinated Prime Ministers in the past, for example.... ...or violent agitators planted in peaceful demonstrations here in the USA, from the 1930s Labor Movement through the 1960s Civil Rights movement (to list a couple examples). Even the anthrax killings here in the USA more recently (were almost certainly an "inside job)."
Jonny Spirit
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 9:50 p.m.
What a Republican thing to say.
ViSHa
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 9:49 p.m.
hopefully it wont be too hard to trace where this anti-"TeaPubliKan" letter came from.
C. S. Gass
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 9:49 p.m.
Nice. Bioterror? Couldn't wait to mount a recall? The anti Snyder crowd just lost the moral high ground. And just when my support for him had about reached it's limit. Good job, really, shot yourself in the foot you did.
Ignatz
Fri, Jun 3, 2011 : 11:53 a.m.
C.S., it sounds like you know who did this, since his/her/their political affiliation is known to you. Please contact the proper authorities so those responsible can be apprehended.
skfina2
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 11:17 p.m.
So you think the actions of one demented individual reflect on everyone in this state who is anti-Snyder? And that we lost the moral high ground to someone who thinks it is OK to raise taxes on the poor and middle class while giving wealthy business owners an 82% tax cut? Really?
GoBlue1984
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 9:06 p.m.
I disagree with what the person who sent this letter did. However, I completely understand the rage they must feel toward Rick Snyder.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 11:13 p.m.
Good question, Gene. I disagree with the governor. This is a despicable thing to do, period, no matter the motivation. Good Night and Good Luck
genetracy
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 9:28 p.m.
Would you be able to "understand the rage" if someone did the same thing to our president?
John B.
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 8:57 p.m.
This is unfortunate. While I do not agree with much of anything that Snyder stands for or has done while in office, sending things like whatever this was is stupid, and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the appropriate law(s).
treetowncartel
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 9:50 p.m.
I agree, plus they get two victims now for their sentencing guidelines, not just one. Aren't they smart enough to know the Governor wouldn't open his own mail?