August 15, 2002: Seeking Witnesses to Anthrax Mailing, FBI Shows Only Hatfill’s Photo

Trace elements of anthrax have been found in a post office box across the street from Princeton University in New Jersey. [MSNBC, 8/12/2002] The FBI declares Steven Hatfill has not “received any more attention than any other person of interest in the investigation.” [Fox News, 8/12/2002] Yet Hatfill is the only named “person of interest,” and his photo is the only one being shown by the FBI to residents of the neighborhood near the mailbox. [Associated Press, 8/15/2002] The New York Times will later report, “Criminologists said that only by showing photos of a number of people could investigators have confidence in an eyewitness identification of Dr. Hatfill or any other suspect.” [New York Times, 8/4/2008] Several months later, a law enforcement official admits to the Los Angeles Times that, “to be honest, we don’t have anybody that is real good [as a possible anthrax suspect]. That is why so much energy has gone into Hatfill—because we didn’t have anybody else.” [Weekly Standard, 9/16/2002]