Matthew Unglesbee used salt to terrorize members of Congress

By Daniel Okafor · Reporting from New York · October 26, 2026

Matthew Unglesbee mailed salt to four members of Congress to mimic anthrax, a stunt that wasted emergency resources and proves that a "joke" is still a crime.

Matthew Unglesbee is not a prankster. He is a man who used the U.S. mail to simulate a biological attack. According to NBC News, Unglesbee mailed four letters containing a white substance to members of Congress. He included his own name and home address on the envelopes. This was not a mistake. It was the act of a man who knew exactly how to trigger a panic.

The return address on the envelope

Unglesbee lives in Quincy, Illinois. He sent the letters to federal officials in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune said that the letters were postmarked on Oct. 19, 2026.

The envelopes were plain and white. The addresses were handwritten. Unglesbee did not hide his identity. He put his own return address on the mail. This suggests a man who felt untouchable or a man who did not care if he was caught.

A letter arrived at the office of a congress member on Oct. 21, 2026. It contained a white substance. The staff followed security protocols. They alerted law enforcement and evacuated the building.

The response was immediate and costly. Local police and firefighters arrived. A hazardous materials team tested the substance. They found no harmful agents. The substance was salt.

A fourth letter arrived at a U.S. senator's office on Oct. 23, 2026. This envelope contained a white substance and a note. The note read "HAH enjoy the gift." CBS News said that the first three letters contained a note saying "HA HA."

The targets were specific. U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley's Chicago office received a letter. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky's Skokie office received one. U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider's Lincolnshire office received another. Quigley said his staff put the letter in a "magic box" to protect themselves. He said the letter contained "threatening, intimidating language of vulgar, nasty — obviously directed toward Democrats."

Why a "joke" is a crime

Unglesbee told the FBI that he was joking. He said the salt "kind of looks like" anthrax. He claimed he sent the letters after hearing news stories in a restaurant about other white powder mailings. He admitted he knew recipients would take it seriously. He knew hazmat teams would respond because "anthrax is dangerous."

Unglesbee claimed he was joking. His lawyers might argue that salt is harmless. They may say the lack of a toxic agent means there was no real danger. This is a failure of logic. The danger is not the salt. The danger is the panic. The danger is the diversion of police and fire teams from real emergencies. The danger is the intent to make a public official feel threatened.

The FBI search of Unglesbee's residence proved his intent. Agents wore Tyvek suits and respirators during the search. They found a fifth envelope addressed to a congressperson’s office in Washington, D.C. This envelope was empty and unmailed. The Herald-Whig said that agents also removed a computer from the home.

The cost of this "joke" was measured in man-hours and fear. Jan Schakowsky said she would not let threats stand in the way of serving her district. Brad Schneider said anyone who thinks they can scare members of Congress is "sorely mistaken." These are not reactions to salt. They are reactions to the threat of death.

Does the ghost of 2001 linger?

The historical pattern predicts that copycats follow high-profile scares. This is not an isolated event. It is a repetition of a known script. It shows a persistent desire to use the mail as a weapon of fear.

The mechanism of this crime is the same as the 2001 anthrax attacks. In those attacks, letters containing anthrax spores killed five people and infected seventeen others to intimidate congressional offices.

The 2001 attacks led to one of the largest investigations in law enforcement history. They proved that the mail system could be used to deliver lethal agents. Unglesbee relied on that memory. He used the fear of a biological weapon to force a government response. He did not need real anthrax to cause a crisis. He only needed the appearance of it.

The scale of the current problem is wide. ABC7 Chicago said that more than 100 possible white-powder letters are circulating in the U.S. mail system. The FBI is investigating these incidents nationwide. Unglesbee denied involvement with mailings outside of Illinois. However, the effect is the same. Every letter forces a hazmat response. Every letter wastes public funds.

Unglesbee did not act out of political conviction. He acted because he heard a story in a restaurant and decided to mimic it.

The evidence against him is absolute. He used his own return address. He confessed to the FBI. He kept a fifth envelope in his home.

Federal prosecutors will likely secure a guilty plea from Matthew Unglesbee within six months. He left a trail of evidence that is impossible to erase. He confused a biological threat with a prank. In a country that remembers the lethality of the mail, that is not a joke. It is a federal crime.

Matthew Unglesbee used salt to terrorize members of Congress

The return address on the envelope

Why a "joke" is a crime

Does the ghost of 2001 linger?

Sources