Monday, Aug. 11, 2008
Reporters and camera crews from 20 media outlets set up equipment Saturday morning and focused on St. John's Catholic Church in Frederick.
Dr. Bruce Ivins, the Army scientist investigated by the FBI in connection with the 2001 anthrax attacks, was a member of the church before he killed himself on July 29.
Ivins' relatives, friends and co-workers gathered at the church to remember Ivins, 62, in the closed-door memorial service while a dozen officers from the Frederick Police Department stood outside, ensuring media stayed off church grounds.
Lt. Clark Pennington, of the Frederick Police Department, said police received a request from the church and Ivins' family to help secure the service. "We were just preparing for a large contingency of local and national media," he said. "…We received no reports of threats. We didn't anticipate any problems."
Despite the media presence, the hour-long memorial service took place without interruption. The nearly 250 mourners reportedly remembered Ivins for his kindness and compassion as well as his hobbies — juggling, practical jokes and playing the piano.
After the service, mourners left the church in silence, ignoring some reporters' attempts for interviews.
National media attention zoomed in on Frederick nearly two weeks ago after The Los Angeles Times published a report on Ivins' suicide and his connection to the anthrax attacks, which killed five and sickened 17 people shortly after Sept. 11, 2001.
According to the report, Ivins, who worked in Fort Detrick's biodefense research laboratories, killed himself just after he was told of his pending prosecution for the attacks.
National media has been following to story since, looking into reports of the FBI's seven-year investigation of the attacks and unearthing e-mails he wrote and interviewing his co-workers about his mental state.
After that level of coverage, the crowd of reporters camping out on a sidewalk during the memorial service did not surprise residents passing by Saturday morning.
"I was not surprised at all, even though it's a memorial," said Alexandra Funsch of Frederick. "This is very sensational in Frederick."
Tom Morrell, who was visiting his brother in Frederick from Milwaukee, said he didn't think the media presence was appropriate at the event. "This is a funeral," he said. "This man has a family. Imagine if you were his mother or father."
Ivins has left behind his wife of 33 years, Diane; a son Andy; a daughter Amanda; and brothers Tom Ivins of Middletown, Ohio, and Charles Ivins of Etowah, N.C.
