Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump

Background

At the time, Donald Trump was listed as sitting president. The record is categorized as attempted assassination with a high confidence level.

Event details

The reported method was poison mailing. Failed; ricin letter intercepted before reaching Trump.

Aftermath

Ferrier, a Canadian citizen with a prior criminal history, mailed an envelope containing ricin addressed to Trump; it was intercepted at a mail-screening facility before reaching the White House. She was arrested at the U.S.-Canada border crossing on September 20, 2020, while attempting to enter the United States, allegedly in possession of a handgun and a forged passport. Investigators also found she had sent ricin-laced letters to law enforcement officials in Texas. Ferrier pleaded guilty to threatening the president and unlawful possession of a biological toxin; she was sentenced to approximately 22 years in federal prison in 2023. The case reinforced the importance of White House mail screening protocols and drew attention to the transnational nature of threats against U.S. political figures.

Historical significance

The Ferrier case is one of only a small number of documented attempts to use a biological toxin against a U.S. president and illustrated both the transnational character of modern threats and the effectiveness of White House mail-screening protocols in intercepting them. Ferrier's near-simultaneous letters to Texas law enforcement agencies indicated a broader pattern of targeted violence, and her attempted border crossing with a forged passport and a firearm suggested she posed an ongoing danger. The approximately 22-year sentence was intended to signal a severe deterrent for anyone contemplating the use of biological agents against political figures, and the case has been cited in training materials for postal and security personnel on biological threat detection.

Sources

• Foreign National Sentenced to Nearly 22 Years in Prison for Mailing Ricin to President of the United States in 2020 — U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia
• Pascale Ferrier — Wikipedia contributors
• List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots — Wikipedia contributors