Four North Georgia men accused of plotting domestic terror attacks allegedly discussed making and spreading the biological toxin ricin in Atlanta and other major cities, but several bioterroism experts say their plan almost certainly would have failed.
Experts say the men may have produced a product containing some level of ricin, but could not have used it to harm large numbers of people.
"It wouldn't have worked," said Raymond Zilinskas, a microbiologist and program director at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif.
The men are scheduled for bond hearings at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Gainesville. Federal prosecutors say their plans for ricin were part of a grander scheme in which they plotted to assassinate government figures and blow up federal buildings.
Toccoa men Samuel J. Crump, 68, and Ray H. Adams, 55, were charged with conspiring to possess and produce the biological toxin ricin and attempted production of the deadly toxin. Toccoa man Dan Roberts, 67, and Frederick W. Thomas, 73, of Cleveland were charged with conspiring to possess an explosive device and illegally possessing an unregistered silencer.
Federal agents seized items from two of the men's homes that included ingredients for ricin such as castor beans as well as instructions on how to make the deadly agent, according to federal search warrants. It remains unclear how close the self-styled militia group was to manufacturing the poison. One of the men had lab experience and some lab equipment at his home, and the group had discussed gathering ingredients from local stores and building exhaust vents; a "white powder in cup" was among the items seized from the homes, the search warrants said.
Producing ricin is a popular topic among extremist groups because the main ingredient, castor beans, are widely grown to make castor oil and other products. Recipes are easy to find on the Internet. But while such homemade experiments could produce a kind of castor mash that could be harmful if eaten, producing a powder that can be distributed in deadly doses through the air is highly unlikely, Zilinskas said. Even international weapons scientists have found the prospect daunting, making ricin a poor tool of terror, he said.
"No one that we know has done it," said Zilinskas, who was among the United Nations inspectors who checked for biological weapons in Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
But experts worried that even if the group failed at killing large numbers of people, they could have tried to kill a few and take credit, which could cause psychological terror.
"They could sabotage the food supply," Zilinskas said. Even with a few deaths, "that could create terror."
One of the group's defense attorneys has said the men were just venting their frustrations. Thomas' wife, Charlotte, said her husband loved his country and "wouldn't hurt a flea."
George Smith, who analyzes bioterror threats for GlobalSecurity.org, said the men were "steeped in poison lore" spread through the Internet.
"What is absurd about it is how this lore has become so solidified in a certain subculture," Smith said. "People are utterly convinced of the realness of it."
He added he thinks the people who subscribe to these beliefs have let their imaginations outpace their ability to accomplish their goals.
He believes the men lack the training to convert castor beans into a weapon of mass destruction.
"Ricin is a protein ... the more you purify it, the harder it is to keep it around. People don’t understand that," Smith said, explaining that proteins are easily broken down by heat, ultraviolet light, acids or elements such as lye.
Trina von Waldner, who teaches about ricin at the pharmacy college at the University of Georgia, worried that one of the accused men, Adams, had been a lab technician at the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Agriculture Department.
She said the men might have been able to produce something dangerous, if only to a few people. She noted that ricin could be made at home with equipment found at a high school chemistry lab.
"People have made this in their homes in a form that is deadly," she said. "But it's not considered doable for a large population."
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