These dramatic pictures show federal agents in full body armor and breathing apparatus raiding the home of Kevin Curtis, 45 - who has been charged with trying to poison President Barack Obama.
The officers, armed with automatic weapons, were taking no chances as they entered the property in the sleepy neighbourhood of Corinth, Mississippi.
Curtis is suspected of sending letters containing deadly poison ricin to President Obama and to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker.
Raid: Armed federal agents wearing hazardous material suits and breathing apparatus enter the West Hills Subdivision home of Paul Kevin Curtis in Corinth, Mississippi
Target: Law enforcement officials blocked off the property yesterday after taking Curtis into custody under suspicion of sending letters covered in ricin to the President Barack Obama and Senator Roger Wicker
Hazard: The heavily-armed agents were fully equipped for the operation at Curtis's home where he was arrested on Wednesday
The agents were carefully washed down and their weapons and other gear bagged up after the raid in case of contamination.
Senator Wicker has revealed he has had one encounter already with the Elvis impersonator charged with trying to poison him and the president.
More...
'We will finish the race': Obama plays comforter-in-chief as he and First Lady honor victims of Boston Marathon bombings at memorial service
'He was very entertaining': Senator 'who was sent ricin-laced letter by Elvis impersonator' had met performer at a party a decade ago and HIRED him to perform
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, he said that he met Curtis once, and described him as ‘very entertaining.’
Curtis, who believed he had uncovered a conspiracy to sell human body parts on the black market and sometimes performed as an Elvis Presley impersonator was arrested on Wednesday.
Charged: Curtis is suspected of sending letters containing ricin to President Barack Obama and Senator Wicker
He is accused of sending ricin-laced letters this week to the President and to Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, that arrived just one day after the deadly bombings in Boston.
Curtis had previously sent letters to Sen. Wicker and officials from his office alerted authorities about the frequency of his correspondence when the suspicious letter was found.
The suspect was originally identified by federal sources as Kenneth Curtis of Tupelo, Mississippi, according to local media reports. It is not known if Curtis has used Kenneth as an alias.
An affidavit shows the letters sent to Obama and Wicker both warned their intended recipients: 'Maybe I have your attention now, even if that means that someone must die.'
Curtis is 'believed to be responsible for the mailings of the three letters which contained a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin,' the FBI said in a statement.
Investigators with the Secret Service and the FBI are using the Lee County Sheriff’s Department, in Tupelo, as a staging area for their investigation, according to The Clarion-Ledger. It is not clear where the suspect is being held.
His former wife, Laura Curtis, told reporters that her ex-husband makes a living by impersonating the King at various functions, including church events and birthday parties, the Wall Street Journal reported.
She told the paper that the message: ‘To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance,’ which appears on both the letter addressed to Obama and to Sen. Wicker, is his ‘favorite saying.’
Laura Curtis told the Journal that the two of them were married for a decade and divorced in 2002.
They have four children together. ‘I can’t imagine him doing this,’ she said.
Last night Ricky Curtis, who said he was Kevin Curtis' cousin, said the family was shocked by the news of the arrest. He described his cousin as a 'super entertainer' who impersonated Elvis and numerous other singers.
'We're all in shock. I don't think anybody had a clue that this kind of stuff was weighing on his mind,' Ricky Curtis said in a telephone interview.
Elvis: Curtis is known to have performed as a professional Elvis impersonator using the stage name KC. He is seen here singing in a image take from a video on You Tube
Clean up: The agents have their clothes cleaned in case of chemical exposure outside the property. All suits and gear, including weapons were placed in hazardous materials bags for an extensive cleanup
Bagged: An armed federal agent collects the hazardous material suits and breathing apparatus. The level of care taken shows the potential dangers they faced during the operation
Ricky Curtis said his cousin had written about problems he had with a cleaning business and that he felt the government had not treated him well, but he said nobody in the family would have expected this. He said the writings were titled Missing Pieces.
A Facebook account entitled Kevin Curtis Live (KC), which is believed to be that of the suspect, contains rants about a body parts conspiracy. One, posted on Tuesday, said: 'I'm on the hidden front lines of a secret war. A war that is making Billions of dollars for corrupt mafia related organizations and people. (bone, tissue, organ, body parts harvesting black market) when we lay our loved ones to rest....
'My mother wants me to SHUT UP. My brothers fear me. My sister hates me. My cousins have hostility towards me (they work in healthcare) I have lost most of my friends. I have spent more than $130,000.00 on legal fees in 13.5 yrs.
'They burned down my home, killed my dogs, my cat, my rabbit, blew up my 1966 Plymouth Valent. They destroyed my marriage, they distracted my career, they stalked, they trolled, they came in to my home, took my computers, had me arrested 22 times and guess what? I am still a thorn in their corrupt a****!'
Armed: The agents were taking no chances when they entered the property following Curtis's arrest. The raid, and Curtis' arrest have shocked residents of the normally sleepy Mississippi neighbourhood
Alert: The alleged ricin plot and the Boston bombings have left the US on a high state of alert. Officers can be seen here handing in their weapons to be bagged up
On the same day he posted a photograph of a revolver, with the comment 'say hello to my little friend'. The page's author wrote that he was trying to 'expose various parties within the government, FBI, police departments' for what he believed was 'a conspiracy to ruin my reputation in the community as well as an ongoing effort to break down the foundation I worked more than 20 years to build in the country music scene.'
Ricky Curtis said his cousin, a martial arts fan, ran a cleaning business, believed to be called The Cleaning Crew. He added: 'As far as him being anti-government, I'm not going to say that, but he had some issues with some stuff that happened with his cleaning business.'
Online posts refer to a conspiracy Curtis alleges he uncovered when working at a local hospital between 1998-2000, when he says he stumbled upon: 'a refrigerator full of dismembered body parts & organs wrapped in plastic in the morgue of the largest non-metropolitan healthcare organization in the United States of America.'
On Tuesday there was a Facebook post linking to an article about a charity initiative, with the comment: 'This is KC & I approve this concept!' The two letters mailed to Washington, DC were both intercepted at a mail screening facility in Maryland on Tuesday and initial tests found the pieces of mail contained the toxic component that can be fatal when ingested.
Both letters sent to the politicians contained the same message, ‘To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance.’
They also had the same signature that read: ‘I am KC and I approve this message.’ The letters contained a Memphis postmark and had no return address. Law enforcement officials told CBS News that the ricin found in the letters was 'low grade' and 'less than one percent toxin.'
The FBI has said there is no obvious link between the letters, postmarked on April 8, and the deadly bombings in Boston on Monday.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri said on Wednesday spoke to the press about the investigation into the letter writer and said the person in question 'writes a lot of letters to (Congress) members.'
A suspicious letter was also reportedly sent to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, at his office in Saginaw, Michigan but there was no information if the letter tested positive for the toxic substance. Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, has also reported a suspicious letter.
AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION: FBI'S FULL RELEASE ON RICIN TESTING
A second letter containing a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin was received at an offsite mail screening facility.
The envelope, addressed to the President, was immediately quarantined by U.S. Secret Service personnel, and a coordinated investigation with the FBI was initiated. It is important to note that operations at the White House have not been affected as a result of the investigation.
Additionally, filters at a second government mail screening facility preliminarily tested positive for ricin this morning. Mail from that facility is being tested.
Any time suspicious powder is located in a mail facility, field tests are conducted. The field and other preliminary tests can produce inconsistent results. Any time field tests indicate the possibility of a biological agent, the material is sent to an accredited laboratory for further analysis.
Only a full analysis performed at an accredited laboratory can determine the presence of a biological agent such as ricin. Those tests are currently being conducted and generally take 24 to 48 hours.The investigation into these letters remains ongoing, and more letters may still be received. There is no indication of a connection to the attack in Boston.