Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 30 October 2024

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

What is ricin – the biological substance police say they found at Southport suspect’s home?

Sky News reports:

(Name omitted), 18, from Lancashire, faces one charge of the “production of a biological toxin, namely ricin, contrary to Section 1 of the Biological Weapons Act 1974”.

He also faces a terror charge of possession of information “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000”.

This came after police said they found ricin and an al Qaeda training manual, during a search of his home.

He had already been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder following the mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in July.

Related Articles:

• Southport murder suspect charged with terrorism offence and producing ricin
• British Teen Who Fatally Stabbed 3 Girls Also Made Poison And Had A Terror Manual

Analyst Comment:

Ricin has been used as a weapon for years. Ricin is very easy to produce without any special laboratory equipment. Members of the faith community should consider that ricin may be used by threat actors.

NIH’s  National Library of Medicine reports the following attacks:

• 1978 – Assassination of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in London.
• 1981 – Double-agent Boris Korczak survived being shot by an air gun with a pellet containing ricin while at a grocery store in Virginia.
• 2003 – Ricin was detected in a facility that handled mail for the White House. However, no one was harmed.
• 2013 – Envelopes addressed to President Barack Obama, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, and Lee County, Mississippi Judge Sadie Holland tested positive for ricin.
• 2013 – An actress mailed letters containing ricin to President Barack Obama, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Mark Glaze, who at that time was executive director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Other ricin attacks:

• 2020 – Canadian woman who sent poison-laced letter to Trump sentenced to 21 years
• 2023 – Iranian man charged in Germany over alleged plot for attack using deadly chemicals

CDC provides the following:

• Ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans. If castor beans are chewed and swallowed, the released ricin can cause injury. Ricin can be made from the waste material left over from processing castor beans.
• It can be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be dissolved in water or weak acid.

MD Searchlight provides the following information.

Ricin is a type of protein that naturally comes from the seeds of the castor oil plant, also known as Ricinus communis. It’s harmful if it’s breathed in, eaten, or injected into the body. In fact, an amount as small as five to ten micrograms per kilogram of body weight can cause death.

 Signs and symptoms of Ricin Toxicity:

• • Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and bloody vomiting or stools following ingestion.
  • Potential damage to the spleen, liver, and kidneys following ingestion.
  • Coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and sore throat following inhalation.
  • Potential development of fluid build-up in the lungs and pneumonia following inhalation.
  • Redness, hardening of the skin, and blisters following injection.
  • Possible progression to seizures, shock, organ failure, and breathing difficulties.
  • Varying onset periods, from within a few hours to possibly several hours after exposure.

Additional information about ricin:

• CDC | Questions and Answers About Ricin
• Ricin | Chemical Emergencies | CDC

Follow up to the 24 October 2024 Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post which highlighted the threat of edged weapons and the vulnerability of faith community members when they can be identified in public.

Jewish Man Severely Wounded in Brooklyn Stabbing Attack as Perpetrator Remains at Large

The Algemeiner reports:

A visibly Jewish man was slashed in the face as he was walking through downtown Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday morning.

Related article: Jewish Man Slashed in the Face in Brooklyn

Chicago: Orthodox Jewish man shot while walking to synagogue

7 Israel National News reports:

A 39-year-old Orthodox Jewish man was shot while walking to synagogue during Shabbat in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood, a large center of the city’s Orthodox Jewish community, Lonnie Nasatir, president of the Jewish United Fund of Chicago, told JNS on Sunday.

New information about man accused of threatening church congregations in Utah

KSL TV5 reports:

“He’s saying he feels persecuted by the Catholics, he wants to go to war. He said he had a knife,” Sgt. Gary Young of the Cottonwood Heights Police Department explained of the 911 call. “Dispatch asks him ‘Are you feeling violent?’ and he says ‘Yes but not to police only to the Catholics.’ That gets everyone’s attention so they ping his phone and it is there at the St. Thomas More church.”

Analyst Comments:

Identifiable members of the faith community continue to be targeted in public. Edged weapons also continue to be an extremely available weapon for attackers.

Members of the faith community should consider using extra caution in public. CISA’s Personal Security Considerations PDF recommends:

• Being aware of surroundings and nearby activities
• Limiting personal information sharing in digital platforms.
• Hiding personally identifiable information and work credentials when in public
• Letting a trusted person know where you are going, particularly if outside of daily functions, and when you plan to return
• Changing predictable routines, such as the timing and routes to work, school, or places of worship
• Staying in well-lit public areas and avoiding isolated streets
• Avoiding leaving personal belongings unattended, even for a few minutes
• Having a cell phone available to make emergency calls
• Carrying simple to use protective tools, such as pepper spray, and a bright flashlight. If maintained on your person, ensure facilities allow entry of such devices.
• Creating a personal or family emergency action plan
• Avoiding text messaging or lengthy cell phone use while walking alone
• Keeping hands free as carrying items may result in further vulnerabilities
• Avoiding suspicious packages, and recognizing potential indicators of a suspected explosive device to notify law enforcement
• Asking for help – contacting security or a co-worker for an escort to vehicle
• Parking in well-lit and attended areas; exercising caution when using underground and enclosed parking
• Heading to nearest public gathering location, police station, or fire department if being followed
• Trusting instincts and being assertive in decision making; calling for help from others or the police if feeling threatened

Additional Resources:

• CISA’s Personal Security Considerations Action Guide: Critical Infrastructure Workers (cisa.gov)
• UK’s National Protective Security Authority: Personal Safety and Security for High-Risk Individuals (npsa.gov.uk) website
• CISA’s Conflict Prevention website can benefit anyone that deals with the public.