Authorities in Fannin County became suspicious of William Christopher Gibbs after he drove himself to a hospital and claimed he had ricin on his hands. Ricin is derived from castor beans and is typically found in pellet, powder or mist form.
Fannin County Sheriff Dane Kirby told local reporters, "It turned out to be Ricin. I think it was all contained inside his vehicle, just a small amount of something I think he had been experimenting with. It was inside his vehicle and somehow he claimed he had exposed himself to what he made, got scared, and went to the hospital."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "It would take a deliberate act to make ricin and use it to poison people."
Prosecutors told Fox News that the CDC "identified no evidence that any poisonous or toxic substances have been dispersed or that the public is at risk." It is not yet clear how or why Gibbs came in contact with ricin.
Gibbs identifies as a "White Racial Loyalist" and is a member of the Georgia Church Of Creativity, a white-separatist organization founded in 1973 that promotes, "what it sees as the inherent superiority and ‘creativity’ of the white race," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
On its website the movement describes itself as a "Professional, Non-Violent, Progressive Pro-White Religion." They boast a set of commandments, including the directives, "It is the avowed duty and holy responsibility of each generation to assure and secure for all time the existence of the White Race upon the face of this planet," and, "Remember that the inferior colored races are our deadly enemies, and that the most dangerous of all is the Jewish race. It is our immediate objective to relentlessly expand the White Race, and keep shrinking our enemies."
Under a Facebook profile photo Gibbs wrote, "100 years from now when someone finds one of these trees thay [sic] will know that there was once a White Race."
Residents of a Morganton neighborhood were startled when they saw people in HAZMAT suits emerging from unmarked cars testing for the substance. Town Mayor Mike England said, "All of the sudden a whole host of law enforcement vehicles showed up in our parking lot, somewhere between 30 to 40 vehicles. And around 100 law enforcement individuals."
Currently Gibbs is being held at the Fannin County jail on a probation violation and charges of reckless conduct.
