#Judge orders Pascale Ferrier transferred to DC in ricin case

The Canadian woman accused of sending President Trump a ricin-laced envelope has been ordered to be transferred to Washington, DC, to face an indictment after pleading not guilty during a detention hearing in Buffalo, according to reports.

Authorities found traces of ricin in the suburban Montreal home of Pascale Ferrier, 53, who was carrying 294 rounds of ammunition in her backpack when border agents arrested her at the Peace Bridge on Sept. 20, the Buffalo News reported.

On Monday, Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder said Ferrier was a flight risk and had shown an inclination to harm the president and others if released.

“I conclude that there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant does constitute a continuing danger to the president of the United States as well as to members of the community,” the judge said about Ferrier, who has French and Canadian citizenship, according to Reuters.

He said Ferrier should be placed in the custody of US Marshals for the purpose of transferring her to DC to face the charge that she threatened the president’s life.

“Unfortunately, this country has a history of witnessing assassinations and attempted assassinations of the president of the United States, going back to Abraham Lincoln and then William McKinley here in this very city of Buffalo, New York, the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan and now numerous threats that have been made allegedly by the defendant against Donald J. Trump,” Schroeder said.

The mailing addressed to Trump was intercepted on Sept. 18 at a White House mail sorting facility where postal workers flagged it as suspicious and contacted the FBI, according to an FBI affidavit.

The letter called the president “The Ugly Tyrant Clown,” — and similar remarks were found on posts made on Ferrier’s social media accounts, according to the affidavit.

Ferrier’s lawyer, Fonda Dawn Kubiak, argued that she should be granted bail.

“As Ms. Ferrier sits here today, she is presumed innocent,” said Kubiak, who called her client “highly educated” with the equivalent of a master’s degree in engineering in France who was employed by an aircraft engineering company.

Ferrier could stay with her son in Quebec or possibly with relatives in Texas, Kubiak added.

Assistant US Attorney Timothy Lynch said Ferrier was trying to enter the US when an officer asked if she was OK.

“No, I’m wanted by the FBI for the ricin envelope,” he quoted her as replying.

He said authorities handcuffed her and searched her vehicle, in which they found a semiautomatic handgun loaded with seven bullets, 294 additional rounds, pepper spray, a knife and a stun gun.

“She was loaded for bear, judge,” the prosecutor said.