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Article excerpts (emphasis added):
“Two individuals part of a military advocacy organization’s 100,000-plus clients received burnt envelopes in the mail this past weekend, causing concerns about whether the incidents were coincidences or part of a broader, orchestrated attack on the outspoken group.
“Images of the burnt envelopes, received this past weekend and shared exclusively with Military.com, reveal how a man in Florida and a woman in West Virginia received the letters as part of a routine donation mailer from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, known as MRFF. The paper envelopes were seared with similar patterns and delivered thousands of miles away, hours apart, from one other by the U.S. Postal Service.
“MRFF became privy to the letters when both individuals, who spoke with Military.com on the condition of anonymity due to potential fears about their safety, sent emails to the organization this past weekend. The male is not a military veteran but was a former federal government employee. The female is a former U.S. Army staff sergeant. Both letters were delivered on Saturday, May 23.
“The emails written by both individuals, and shared in full with Military.com, were sent to MRFF to make the organization aware of what happened, as well as to see if any other clients—roughly 95% of which are Christian—received similar correspondence. MRFF's client base includes over 100,000 military members, civilian personnel and veterans.
“‘Pretty suspicious - smell’s charred and clearly burned to the letter inside,’ the man wrote in the email. ‘Will keep it unopened for whatever investigation by the postal inspectors, FBI or others. Serious stuff. I have supported MRFF since its inception, as a donor and as a member of the advisory board.’”
[...]
“The email scribed by the Army veteran is similar in nature, warning of ‘smells of burned paper, with the burn going all the way through the papers.’
“‘I immediately sensed the urgency of reporting this to you as well as my local USPS and law enforcement, as I have supported your organization for years, know it to be the most effective tool we have as Americans to fight not just Christian Nationalism but all prejudices in the military,’ the woman wrote. “‘I also know you receive threats, ongoing, and likely much more dangerous than this.’
“She added: ‘I will support your work no matter what happens and know what you do is of the utmost importance. I am outraged, as a US Army Veteran, that this could happen to you, through MY personal USPS mailbox. I'm hoping this is investigated to the fullest extent, and hope the best for you (and all of us) going forward.’”
[…]
“Military.com previously reported how the group drew widespread attention in the infancy of the Iran War, when it logged more than 200 complaints across 50 military installations of non-commissioned officers purportedly being told that the war was part of God’s plan and that President Donald Trump was ‘anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.’
“That attention may be related to these two new incidents, Weinstein said.”
[…]
“The Florida man who has known Weinstein dating back to the 1980s said he now understands how the MRFF founder feels on a daily basis, saying that he’s had to constantly deflect proverbial ‘arrows’ shot in his direction. Military.com has reported how Weinstein hired bodyguards and has multiple canines for security purposes, as past incidents have included death threats and feces rubbed on his own property.”
[…]
“Weinstein said the organization, in existence since 2005, understands ‘this type of tyrannical oppression comes with the territory and with the successes we continue to have in forcing the U.S. Armed Forces to adhere to the First Amendment’s mandatory separation of church and state.’”
“‘However, the horrific facts of what has just happened here seemingly opens a new territory of monstrous, malignant intimidation against MRFF and its supporters,’ he added. ‘This is the very first time we have suffered an apparent threat as specifically egregious and grotesque as this one where at least two recipients of our critical mid-year MRFF donation appeal—in very different parts of the country—have received their appeal envelope packages which have literally been burned all the way through and smelling of smoke when they were received by their panicked recipients.’”
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