The Midwest FurFest convention was on as usual in December 2014 when people started to get sick. Authorities directed conventiongoers to evacuate and one person was seen fleeing the area wearing “a black and white tail, headpiece, hands and feet.”
That person later denied being involved in an “intentional chlorine gas leak” to investigating FBI agents, but demonstrated a working knowledge of chlorine and had a roll of reddish duct tape in his apartment similar to that found at the crime scene.
Asked why his name might have surfaced as a suspect, the person said he had “been involved with Furries for the past 11-12 years, and you make enemies during that time,” according to an FBI interview summary contained in the documents.
The FBI is still seeking tips in connection with the attack in a suburban hotel, which left 19 people hospitalized and spotlit a sometimes-ridiculed and misunderstood subculture, in which — according to the International Anthropomorphic Research Project — people typically create humanlike animal characters they identify with, known as “fursonas.”
However, recently released FBI documents, though heavily redacted, offer a window into the wide-ranging investigation that followed the sometimes-acrimonious relationships between the people of interest with whom investigators spoke following the incident. The documents, released about 10 years after the attack occurred, do not discuss whether agents made an arrest in connection with the case.
Chaos first erupted at the Midwest FurFest, which describes itself as an event celebrating art, literature and performance based around anthropomorphic animals, shortly after midnight on Dec. 7, 2014, according to the FBI and Tribune reporting at the time.
‘Furry’ convention disrupted as ‘intentional’ gas incident sends 19 to hospitals
Rosemont authorities were called to the Hyatt Regency at 9300 Bryn Mawr Ave. around 1 a.m. “to investigate a noxious odor spreading across the ninth floor of the hotel,” according to the FBI report.
A member of the Rosemont Fire Department who responded to the call told agents at the time that the chlorine meter he had with him started to alarm when he got out of the elevators to the ninth floor and maxed out when he opened the door to the stairwell. He described rescuing a man whom he found unconscious in the room next to the stairwell as emergency workers searched the building and convention attendees were evacuated to the nearby Stephens Convention Center.
A hazardous materials team found a broken Mason jar full of a white powdery substance with a yellow-green liquid spread around it “eating into the paint on the floor.” The concentration of chlorine detected in the air could incapacitate a person within 20 or 30 minutes, the report stated.
Conventiongoers were allowed back into the hotel around 4:20 a.m. Nineteen people were hospitalized, the Tribune reported at the time. Those people had vomiting, burning throats, dizziness and shortness of breath, per the report.
FBI agents in Chicago, Houston and Sacramento, California, interviewed multiple people in the days following the incident.
One person of interest, in a Dec. 10 interview, described a working knowledge of chlorine gas, saying he had read that chlorine gas was “heavier than air and would disperse and cover a larger area than if released at ground level,” but denied involvement in the attack.
In a second interview on Dec. 12, the person denied that he had run away from the scene of the incident wearing a black and white tail despite other witnesses advising that he had fled in “a black and white tail, as well as a headpiece and hands and feet.”
Agents searched his two cars — a 1987 Chevrolet Camaro and a 1988 Dodge Ram van — and a storage locker, recovering a roll of tape similar to tape found at the scene of the attack. But a person who appears to have roomed with the interview subject told agents he didn’t see the person bring anything besides water and alcohol in or out of the room all weekend.
When agents asked the person why someone might carry out a chlorine gas attack at the convention, he responded, “to get attention.” He also told agents that they should investigate other conventiongoers who were “not his friends and would be good people to investigate,” alleging that one of those people “had either tweeted or posted a threat to blow up” a previous convention called Anthrocon.
Agents also interviewed multiple hotel employees, all deemed to have nothing to do with the leak. Another person interviewed demonstrated some knowledge of how chlorine worked and said he’d heard about the attack but hadn’t been in Illinois at the time of the convention.
In a statement, a representative from FBI Chicago said the agency “remains committed to exhausting all investigative leads and tips we receive” and encouraged members of the public with information to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov. Tipsters can remain anonymous, the agency said.
The latest Midwest FurFest took place last month, from Dec. 5 to Dec. 8 in Rosemont, according to the convention website.
