Man arrested after sending fake ‘anthrax’ to gay bar
A man has been arrested after sending a homophobic letter containing fake poison to an Iowa gay bar.
Eric Reece Wiethorn, 49, was charged with first-degree harassment over the letter to the Blazing Saddle bar in Des Moines, which was accompanied by a suspicious powder.
The letter, delivered last month, reads: “It’s time for all the faggots and dykes to die on Capital Pride night!
“Your secret enemies are going to blow up your destination for going to hell tonight, and were going to eat roast faggot the following morning.
“This is your punishment for sinning against God, and hopefully you’ll die from the anthrax on this letter!”
The Des Moines Fire Department’s hazardous materials team responded to a report of an unknown powder – but the bar owners say the powder was eventually determined to be harmless.
Co-owner Robert Eikleberry told the Des Moines Register: “I opened the mail up thinking it was a thank you letter, it turned out to be a hate letter.
“[It said] faggot this, faggot that… and a white powder popped out, so I thought ‘call the police now’, because you don’t know.
“We were locked down until hazmat came and examined it, it turned out to be talcum powder.
“It’s very childish, very hateful, and I though this city had grown up more than that.”
He added: “We get hate mail like this every once in a while but never powder.”
According to the newspaper report on Thursday, Wiethorn is being held at Polk County Jail on a $2,000 bond.
