Animal rights activists claimed responsibility for sending a package with razor blades and a threatening letter to a UCLA neuroscientist who conducts animal research.
The package was delivered earlier this month to the home of David Jentsch, who is also a professor of psychology and the founder of the animal research advocacy group UCLA Pro-Test.
On Tuesday, the Animal Liberation Front released a statement from anonymous activists who claimed to have sent the package, which they said contained AIDS-tainted razor blades.
Jentsch said that although there were many razors in the package, they did not appear to have biological fluid on them.
UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton said he could not confirm whether the razor blades were infected, but he said university police and the FBI have been investigating. UCPD spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein declined to provide further comment on the incident.
Jentsch said that although the activists’ threats were concerning, they also seemed “juvenile.”
“They make no scientific sense,” he said. “If you put blood on a razor, when it dries, the AIDS virus will die with it. It shows the incompetence behind the threats.”
The anonymous activists also claimed to have sent a similar package to one of Jentsch’s researchers, but Hampton said no such package has been found.
Jentsch said he has not taken any extra precautions, but he said he will be more careful when opening his mail.
He said during the past few years, he and other researchers have received numerous threats that animal rights groups have claimed responsibility for. His car was torched in March 2009.
“If people in a university get letters in the mail saying they will get harmed for their academic effort, that’s an offense for the university itself,” Jentsch said.