‘It’s time to change! #killtrump': Deported Canadian arrested for sending ricin to Trump may have tweeted about attack days earlier

Poisoned letter told Trump to ‘give up and remove your application for this election’

Oliver O'Connell

New York

Tuesday 22 September 2020 14:35 EDT

Comments

Pascale Ferrier (Hidalgo Country Sheriff's Office)

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Authorities have identified the Canadian woman accused of sending president Donald Trump a letter containing the poison ricin.

Pascale Ferrier of Quebec was taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection agents on Sunday at the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo, New York.

In the letter she sent to the White House Ferrier told the president to “give up and remove your application for this election,” according to court papers filed on Tuesday.

CBC reported that a search was being carried out at an apartment near Montreal and that officials believed six letters were sent by Ms Ferrier — one to the White House, and five to addresses in Texas.

Sheriff Eddie Guerra of Hidalgo County, Texas, said on Monday that he and three of his staff received mail tainted with ricin, but were unharmed.

The fifth letter is believed to have been sent to the police department in Mission, Texas.

Ferrier previously lived in the US, and was arrested in Mission in March 2019. She was found to be using a fake driver’s licence and carrying an unlicenced weapon.

After being jailed for 20 days the charge was eventually dismissed. However, officials later learned that she had overstayed a six month visa and she was deported back to Canada.

The computer programmer has been living in the Saint-Hubert district of Montreal for approximately a year. CNN reported that she was carrying a gun when arrested by CBP agents.

Social media accounts appearing to belong to Ferrier document some of her movements in the US in 2019 before her return to Canada and the start of a job hunt.

On 9 September, a post from a Twitter account bearing her name agrees with another user about how they have been waiting years for someone to “shoot trump in the face”.

The response reads: “I just read this tweet. I agree… Nobody did anything… It’s time to change! #killtrump”. The original tweet has since been deleted.

The account follows just 11 other users including the US CBP, the Secret Service, FBI, Homeland Security, various Canadian law enforcement agencies, and the Sheriff of Hidalgo County.

Heavy.com has found common themes across several social media accounts bearing the name Pascale Ferrier, including a Facebook page “La Techno-Creative Nomade”, and a LinkedIn profile of a woman employed by Pratt & Whitney Canada as a software configuration manager.

The FBI is continuing to investigate with the assistance of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

A court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

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