Businesses, churches get threatening letters

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Racially threatening letters that appear to be tied to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday have been sent to 15 black-owned businesses and black churches in the Kansas City area, authorities said.

FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said Friday that the first of the 25 threatening letters was reported to the agency last weekend. Lanza said the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had received a letter, as had churches and businesses in Kansas City, Mo., Olathe, Kan. and Kansas City, Kan.

Investigators think the mailings, several mentioning King, may be tied to the Jan. 20 holiday that celebrates the birth of the civil rights leader.

Wording in the letters was similar to more than a dozen such notes sent to predominantly black churches in the area two years ago, Lanza said.

Sending a threatening letter through the mail is a federal crime. There have been no arrests in the case, Lanza said.