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A Canadian woman accused of mailing a package containing ricin to the White House included a threatening letter telling US President Donald Trump to “resign and withdraw his application for this election,” according to court documents. .
Pascale Ferrier of Quebec was arrested Sunday at the US-Canada border and made her first court appearance Tuesday afternoon (local time) in federal court in Buffalo, New York. She faces one charge of threatening the president.
The envelope containing the poison and the threatening letter was addressed to the White House, but was intercepted at a mail sorting facility on Friday.
The package, which was postmarked from Canada, included a letter referring to Trump as “The Ugly Tyrant Clown” and telling him to “resign and withdraw his application for this election,” according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. .
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“So I made a ‘special gift’ for you to make up your mind. This gift is in this letter, ”he wrote, according to the affidavit. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll find a better recipe for another poison, or I could use my weapon when I can come. Enjoy! FREE REBEL SPIRIT “.
Uncredited / AP
Pascale Ferrier is accused of sending a package containing ricin to the White House, including a threatening letter.
Ferrier appeared briefly in court Tuesday and Federal Judge H Kenneth Schroeder Jr pleaded not guilty on his behalf.
Ferrier, who was wearing a tan prison jumpsuit, had his hands cuffed and a chain around his waist. A blue mask covered much of his face as he spoke only briefly to answer the judge’s questions.
Through an interpreter and her attorney, she also requested an identity hearing, which would force the government to show that she is in fact the person for whom the arrest warrant was issued, and a probable cause hearing for the government. show that there is sufficient cause. to proceed in the case. The judge ordered that she be held without bail.
His attorney, Fonda Kubiak, said Ferrier was exercising his rights at those hearings, which were scheduled for Monday.
“She has a presumption of innocence and that will be prosecuted beyond today,” Kubiak said outside the courthouse.
During the investigation, the FBI discovered that six additional similar letters appeared to have been received in Texas in September and also had stamps indicating they had been sent from Canada, according to court documents.
Ryan Remiorz / AP
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer walks out of an apartment complex in St-Hubert, Quebec, during a raid in connection with an envelope containing ricin poison, which was addressed to the White House.
Those letters “contained similar language” to the letter that was sent to Trump and sent to individuals affiliated with the facilities where Ferrier had been jailed in 2019.
Investigators also cross-checked Ferrier’s fingerprints on four of the letters, according to the complaint.
On Facebook and Twitter posts in September, Ferrier, 53, also wrote “#killTrump” and used similar wording to the letter, calling him an “Ugly Clown Tyrant,” according to the document.
When she was arrested Sunday while trying to enter a border crossing in Buffalo, Ferrier told Customs and Border Patrol agents that “the FBI was looking for her for the ricin letters,” the complaint says.
Officers found a loaded gun at her waist and said she was also carrying a knife.
Ferrier was booked into the Hidalgo County Jail in March 2019 on two counts of illegally carrying a weapon and one count of tampering with government records, according to jail records online.
She is listed as a Quebec resident and was released in May of last year. Records indicate that the charges against her were ordered to be dismissed.
Ferrier immigrated to Canada from France and became a Canadian citizen in 2015, according to her Facebook profile.
Justin Taylor, a cousin from Texas, confirmed that she was originally from France. He said that he has an extended family in Texas and was considering moving there after driving to Texas in his RV. She called her arrest very surprising. “A very nice lady, very warm and friendly,” Taylor said.
