Bio-Terror Expert's Anthrax Theory

0:00Barbara Hatch-Rosenberg, a top expert on biological weapons, passed away on March 14 at her home in Northampton, Massachusetts. She was 97. Back in 2001, right after the September 11th attacks, she became a major voice pushing the FBI to look at an insider for the deadly, anthrax mailings that killed five people and sickened 17 others. Those envelopes with anthrax spores hit newsrooms, tabloids and senators offices sparking nationwide panic. As a molecular biologist and clean White House advisor, Hatch-Rosenberg argued it was likely a U.S. government scientist or contractor, not some. Foreign Terrorist Her theory grabbed headlines in FBI attention, leading them to zero in on Stephen Hatfield, a former army researcher. They called him a person of interest, media hounded him, but he was innocent. In 2008, he got a $5.8 million settlement from the Justice Department. Years later, the real focus shifted to Bruce Ivans, a Fort Detrick scientist with access

1:02to the anthrax strain. He died by suicide in 2008 as the case closed, exonerating Hatfield for good. Hatch-Rosenberg kept critiquing the probe, even suggesting Ivans might have had help. Her work put biological threats on the map, warning that bioterrorists were growing even as public fear faded. Global news powered by AI. This is Hartford News Today. I'm Corey with The Story.