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Security of the Mail |
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USPSNewsbreak |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 8, 2001 9 a.m. TV stations air Morris 911 tape, USPS calls death a tragedy: "He is a victim of terrorism."
Responding to the recent airing on Washington and network television news programs of a 911 call made by the late Thomas Morris Jr. on the day the Brentwood employee died of inhalation anthrax, the Postal Service again deplored Morris's death, calling it "a tragedy - for his family, for the Postal Service, for all of us." "He is a victim of terrorism," the Postal Service said in a statement last night. "The blame for his murder rests squarely on the person or persons who used the mail as a lethal weapon." More than a week before Morris's death, on Oct. 12, a letter containing anthrax - the "Daschle letter" - passed through Brentwood. Several days later, it was opened in the Hart Senate office building. During his call to the 911 operator on Oct. 21, Morris said he was having difficulty breathing and worried that he had been exposed to anthrax bacteria. He said that he had been in the vicinity of a letter that was leaking powder. The letter Morris referred to was spotted on Oct. 13, a day after the Daschle letter went through Brentwood. The letter leaking powder was given to the Inspection Service, which asked the FBI to test it. The letter tested negative and Brentwood employees, including Morris, were told of the results. From the day the Daschle letter was opened until Morris's death, public health authorities unanimously assured the Postal Service that workers in the Brentwood Road facility were not at risk. Three days before his death, Morris saw a doctor and was diagnosed as having the flu. Again, there was no sign that he was in grave danger. The 911 call Mr. Morris placed early on the day he died shows that his body was telling him something that no one else had. "He was deeply - and justifiably - worried," the Postal Service said. "All of us would feel the same." "Tragically, the death of Mr. Morris - and of his Brentwood coworker, Joseph Curseen - taught all Americans that we knew less about anthrax than we thought," the Postal Service said. "All of us in the postal family wish that we could have done more for these men. We called on everything we knew and did everything that medical authorities advised us to do. "Now, sadly, we all know more - and we have been aggressively acting to protect the public and our employees. We have provided employees with protective gloves and masks, we have changed the way we clean our processing equipment to control the spread of particles and we are testing more than 260 postal facilities nationwide. If more is learned, we are committed to take those findings and act on them. "The Postal Service grieves the loss of Thomas Morris. Our hearts go out to his family. And every day we are doing all we can to prevent this from ever happening again." ### |
