9. Rajneeshee Bioterror Attack
The Rajneeshee bioterror attack is only of one two confirmed instances of terrorists using biological weapons to harm people in the years since 1945. The attack was carried out by Rajneesh followers who had moved onto a large ranch in Wasco County in 1991. They took political control of Antelope, Oregon and even renamed the town Rajneesh. The group originally had good relations with the people of the town until the commune began to expand and cause conflict over land use.
The commune’s expansion led to them applying for permits for Rajneeshpuram, which the county denied. So the commune decided that they would take over the entire county by manipulating the 1984 county election. They wanted to get two out of the three available seats on the Wasco County Circuit Court and win the Sheriff’s office.
The plan was to incapacitate the voters in The Dalles, the area where most voters resided in order to influence the election in their favor. The group purchased salmonella bacteria and four members of the commune cultured the bacteria in their own labs within the commune complex. Then at least 8 others were involved in distributing the bacteria to salad bars as a “trial run”. The second part of the plan was to put the bacteria into the water supply, but they never followed through.
751 people became ill from the salmonella bacteria placed on the salad bars of 10 restaurants. 45 were sent to the hospital but no one was killed. The poisonings had the opposite effect as residents believed the commune was behind it and came out in droves to vote against the Rajneeshee candidates. The commune eventually decided to boycott the election as most of their members were not U.S. citizens and could not vote. After the investigation two Ranjneeshpuram officials were convicted on attempted murder changes and served 29 months of their 20 year sentences in prison.