White supremacist ordered held without bail for anthrax mailing, racist letters

ABC News/December 24, 2001

Seattle -- A white supremacist accused of mailing white powder and racist literature to a woman during the height of the anthrax scare is being held without bail.

Donald Bruce McAninch, 45, pleaded innocent to "threatened use of certain weapons of mass destruction," mail theft and mail fraud. He was ordered Friday to remain in federal detention pending trial in February.

The pizza delivery driver had pleaded guilty to past mail-related crimes and was sentenced in 1991 to 2{ years in prison.

Prosecutors accuse him of mailing an envelope containing white powder to a woman with a Chinese surname because of her "actual or perceived" race. He also allegedly placed pornographic and racist material in people's mail and ordered magazine subscriptions for minority individuals and anti-prejudice advocates.

McAninch was caught mailing letters by FBI surveillance, court documents said, and police traced his fingerprints to 17 letters containing racist leaflets and sexually explicit photographs left at a middle school in March.