Sage Six THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, June 1 6,1976 Letter bombs blamed on ,a terrorist extortion scheme W A S HI 1 N fG T I) N It - FBI tDirector Clarence Kelley yesterday btmed one or more terrorists dem mding mit- lians of dollars ifrnn U. S. cor- porations for a series of letter bombs which began appearing Monday,. Kelley, who said the 11I does not yet know who is responsi- ble, told a news conference that sotoe 200 corpora1ions re- ceived extocrtimn letters begin- ning last fall. THE SERIES of letter bombs, which have been delivered to corporate offices and to the home of at least one execu- tive. "apear to be part of this contintting crime," he said. A knowledgeable source said the extortion letter sent to one of the companies which subse- guently received a bomb order- ed that money be delivered over a period of months to a point in Mexico. So far, Kelley said, out of 13 letter bombs delivered to com- panies or their executives, one has exploded. That one was opened at the Ness York office of Merrill, Lynch, Inc., and foor persons were injured Ketley declined to answer ac-stions, noting that the mat- ter is stilt onder investigation. I1S REMARKS were similar 'i a statement from the Postal Sertice earlier in which offic- ials also said the bombs ap- sear to be related to the earlier 'xtortion letters. 1osI- Ioffici-ils said all recip- ients of the earlier threats were notified quickly after the first bomb was received. "Over a period of several months, numerous large corpor- ations in the U. S. have receiv- ed a series of extortion letters vherein demands have been made for large sums of money to be paid with the threat of terrorist tactics unless these demands were met," Kelley said. HIE SAID that none of the re- cipients of the letters has com- plied with the demands. "We do not know as of yet just what is the genesis of this. It could be a single person or it could be an organization," he said. lIe tdescribed the letters as "a terrorist attempt to evoke fears in the hearts of every- one." BUT HE refused to say how the letters were signed, or whe- ther they appeared to be the work of any political group. "It is a threatening communi- cation and whether or not there's any revolutionary con- notation is something I cannot discuss," he said. He said the money demanded totals millions of dollars, but he would not give out the total or say what the average amount was. HE ALSO refused to name 'the firms receiving either the bombs or the extortion de- mands. "To date, with one possible exception, only companies re- ceiving prior correspondence . . . have received the letter bombs," he said. Kelley de- clined to discuss the exception. Spokesman Tom Harrington said later that all the current recipients of letter bombs pre- viously had received the ex- tortion letters. He said he didn't know what Kelley meant in the reference to an excep- tion. HE DID not discuss the link between the letter bombs and the earlier extortion demands except to say that "they are substantially he same as far as the context and the de- mands." He said he FBI lab is ana- lyzing the bombs and a pre- liminary check indicates that the explosives are "low order in nature." the " arborfh cociperative TONIGHT-CHARLIE CHAPLIN'S MODERN TIMES 1936) AUD. A-7 & 9 A biting social comedy, Chalin's Little Tramp made his last appearance in this film, Charlie gets a job in a factory and winds up sabotaging the machinery. A mostly silent film-with the exception of Charlie's famous nonsense song. PAULETTE GODDARD, CHESTER CONKLIN. ADM. $1.25 * * WOODY ALLEN'S * * EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX but were afraid to ask WED., JUNE 16-7 & 9 MILB AUD. 3-$1.25 Peoples Bicentennial Commission DALY EARLY BIRD MATINEES - Adults $ .oo ONTHUSAT.tO. MISOS AS.& su & S 11s. SN EOONTL1.e I. STUDENT DISCOUNTS (Exc. Fri.& Sat..Eves. I AP Photo Ear we go! Hector, the bassett hound, looks a bit apprehensive as he prepares to try out his new roller skates. The two-year-old dog took part in the fun as he Bob Hamilton family of Winnipeg held a skating party for the whole neighborhood. Jar emits mysterious fumes HOUSTON (P-It was just a figure out how to counteract the John Sealy Hospital in Galves- little jar, lying in an empty lot. fumes and what the jar was do- ton. "We have asked several But when a tractor ran over it, ing there. national agencies to tell us. All the mysterious fumes that spew- "WE KNOW what it is, but we know is that it acts very ed out made 20 people so sick have no idea what it is used much like cyanide." they had to be hospitalized. for," said Dr. Leo Schallaci of Civil Defense officials asked Now authorities are trying to the poison control center at residents within a mile of the area where the chemical was accidentally exposed on Satur- day.in the suburb of Alief to - :check with their family physi- UIJIMAlf lIC fANTAS ' cian. Dr. Walter Quebedeaux, coun- THI STAROf "CHINA GIRL"ty pollution control director, ANN1T1f HA-S ,.said the chemical was known as orthochloro-benzylidene-mel- onitrile. Dr. Ralph Coleman of the Westside General Hospital said: "I know small amounts are dangerous and I know it is used in drug manufacture and in the manufacture of chemicals XXX for chemical warfare." WHAT OFFICIALS were try- , ing to learn was what the chem- ical might have been used for T ALL AM KAN in this case. Coleman said au- TE A GILthorities were also checking with pLjAGROUND Army officials in Washington. Gary Stevenson and his father, R. K. Stevenson, stumbled into - ,the chemical when they were clearing an empty lot near their home. "Gary was on a tractor mow- ing the lot and the tractor broke INTRODU~G this little jar," the elder Steven- ABIGAILlson said from his hospial bed LAYLON yesterday. "There was this yel- lowish powder and dust and IN EXPLCT COLOR within s e c o n d s Gary's nose I X CIstarted burning and his face began to swell. He said he L W WASHINGTON ST. couldn't breathe. I tried to help S482-3300 him and then I got this burning sensation on my face and nose THEATRE DOWNTOWN YPSILANTI too. It felt like 100 bees had stung me."