Man charged with shipping explosives to military sites

A Seattle area man suspected of sending suspicious packages to multiple government agencies and military installations around the nation's capital was charged today with shipping explosive materials.

Thanh Cong Phan, 43, of Everett, was charged with one count of shipment of explosive materials in federal court in Seattle, where he made his initial appearance today.

A complaint alleges that Phan shipped a vial containing black powder with a fuse on March 16 from a U.S. Postal Service kiosk in Mill Creek, north of Seattle. Ashwin Cattamanchi, a public defender representing Phan, declined to comment on the case when reached by phone.

Eleven suspicious packages were received through the U.S. Postal Service at various government agencies and military installations in the Washington D.C. area, including the US Secret Service White House Mail Screen Facility, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, in Dahlgren, Virginia, and the mailing facility for FBI headquarters in Baltimore, according to the complaint.

Each package contained what appeared to be a homemade explosive device in a small glass bottle with an unknown black power with a fuse, the complaint says. It also contained a typewritten letter with "ramblings about neuropsychology, mind control, and other subjects including terrorism."