June 24, 2005

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Publication Date: Friday, June 24, 2005

Google threatened in 'crackpot' letter

By Don Frances

Though they strongly suspect it's a hoax, authorities are nevertheless investigating a terrorist threat mailed to the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce that claimed to be from Al Qaida and named Google as one of its targets.

"We take all these cases very seriously, though we recognize it's very likely this is a hoax," said Mountain View Police Chief Scott Vermeer, who confirmed that his department is working on the case along with the FBI.

Opened June 13 in the Chamber offices in downtown Mountain View, the letter begins under the heading, "WARNING -- between June 15 through the 30th, 2005, California, USA." It goes on to state that "International terrorists will attack the global facilities of corporate America. Apple, Google will no longer be the same."

"Be aware, take action now," the letter concludes. "You belong to an elite group of people who know first." It was signed, "The International Al Qaida Group," according to Mountain View Police Sgt. Derek Sousa, who described its contents to the Voice.

The letter came in a clean envelope with German stamps that looked like they had not been canceled, said Carol Olson, president of the chamber. She described the letter as typed out in a "flier format" on plain white paper.

Olson said she contacted local police immediately, who then alerted the FBI. Since then, Olson said, FBI investigators have fingerprinted two members of her staff who had handled the letter, so that forensics teams can disregard their prints when they analyze it.

An FBI spokesperson confirmed that federal investigators are working the case, but declined to give details.

"We are looking into it along with the postal inspectors and local police department," said Special Agent LaRae Quy. Quy added that federal investigators take all such threats seriously.

"A threat is a threat," she said. "I'm not going qualify it by saying it's a hoax or less than credible."

According to some reports, copies of the letter were also sent to other places, including to The Sacramento Bee. Chief Vermeer would not confirm those reports.

Vermeer said Lt. Tony Lopez, the Mountain View officer "in charge of our homeland security," is in touch with the FBI on a regular basis regarding the case. Specifically, he said, Lopez is working with a group from the FBI called the Joint Terrorism Task Force, or JTTF -- "our first point of contact on anything terrorism-related."

Vermeer said local police and the FBI often cooperate with each other "on anything that doesn't seem right."

Despite the attention, no one close to the case -- from the Chamber of Commerce to the Mountain View Police Department -- seems particularly worried about it.

"I know corporations get crackpot letters quite frequently," Sgt. Sousa said. "I'm sure Google gets as much as anybody."

E-mail Don Frances at dfrances@mv-voice.com