Terrorist Letters target TV, clothing on women in sports

Terrorist Letters target TV, clothing on women in sports
The Oregonian ^ | April 25, 2007 | Bryan Denson

Federal agents in Oregon have investigated a wide array of mail threats over the years, from anthrax hoaxes to eco-saboteurs pledging more and bigger firebombs. But the FBI coughed up a new class of suspect Tuesday: a TV sports vigilante.

"It's a different kind of case," said Portland FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele.

The first slew of letters, postmarked in Portland, struck their targets in September 2004, followed by another batch late last year. By February of this year, dozens of letters had reached national TV networks, local affiliates and people involved with collegiate athletics.

The typewritten notes suggest that the letters will keep coming unless TV stations change the way they depict women in U.S. sporting events, such as cheerleaders at collegiate basketball games and professional athletes in women's tennis.

Some of the letters contained insecticide and powdered pepper spray, Steele said. Agents in Portland and Seattle, where most of the letters originated, are working the case as a peculiar but troubling form of domestic terrorism.

The writer -- or perhaps writers, as FBI profilers suggest -- doesn't seem to be angry that women are broadcast in scanty uniforms, but rather that they can't seem to get on TV unless they show less skin.

Excerpts from letters released by the FBI on Tuesday suggest that the writer might be a sportswoman angered that she's gotten too little TV airtime because she is underdressed.

"Compare quality of shots, length of shots and number of shots," the author wrote. "Pigs park their cameras on us close up, front view, dozens of times each game, yet rarely ever show on TV in this manner, unless squads are wearing sweaters, jackets, under shirts, etc."

Another letter complained that Ohio State University cheerleaders have gotten more air time than any other major college cheer squad because they wear long-sleeved outfits. "If they wore sleeveless outfits," the note reads, "they would not get ANY TV time."

FBI profilers conclude that two batches of letters -- the first mailed from Portland in September 2004, the second from Seattle and Chicago between November 2006 and February 2007 -- were likely the work of the same person or persons, Steele said.

"The analysts have looked at it, and they just don't know whether it's a man or a woman at this point," she said. "It could be more than one person. But certainly there's a possibility it could be one."

Although some of the letters contained dried pepper spray and insecticide, they have injured no one to date, according to the FBI.

Letters were mailed through the U.S. Postal Service to national TV networks and their affiliates and to individuals in Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona and across the Midwest, Steele said. Some of the recipients were associated with university athletic departments.

The FBI offered a reward of $5,000 to anyone who brings them information identifying the person or persons who mailed the letters. Agents hope citizens will study the peculiar rants expressed in the excerpts and recall whether they might know the culprit.

Bryan Denson: 503-294-7614;
bryandenson@news.oregonian.com