US bomb threats: Joe Biden and Robert De Niro latest Trump critics to receive suspicious packages
Investigators are said to be focusing on the state of Florida in search for suspect behind packages
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Your support makes all the difference.US federal investigators are searching coast to coast for a suspect terrorising a growing list of prominent critics of Donald Trump by sending them bombs – with former vice president Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro the latest to be targeted.
Two packages for Mr Biden were intercepted in Delaware, the FBI said, while another was received at a building housing a restaurant and production company owned by De Niro in New York City. Investigators said they matched parcels which contained pipe bombs sent to former president Barack Obama and several other Democrats this week.
It is believed that investigators have turned their attention to Florida, with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen confirming that at least some of the packages were mailed in in the state. “Some of the packages went through the mail. They originated, some of them, from Florida,” she told Fox News. “I am confident that this person or people will be brought to justice.”
The latest discoveries mean that eight vocal critics of Mr Trump have been targeted by at least 10 packages. All were intercepted and there have been no injuries.
At a press conference on Thursday, officials in New York would not discuss possible motives or details on how the packages found their way into the US postal system. Nor would they say why none of the packages had detonated, but they stressed they were still treating them as “live devices”.
“As far as a hoax device, we’re not treating it that way,” said Police Commissioner James O’Neill. The case is being treated as domestic terrorism.
Late on Thursday, the Miami-Dade Police Department’s bomb squad and K-9 unit announced it had helped sweep a US Postal Service facility in Opa-locka, Florida. “This assistance is as a precautionary measure,” the department said.
The series of bomb alerts began on Monday and would spread across locations in New York, the Washington DC area and Florida. A number of them were called pipe bombs.
The first was found in the post box of billionaire businessman George Soros. Packages were also sent to a New York home of Hillary and Bill Clinton and to Mr Obama and Congresswoman Maxine Waters in Washington DC. A second package addressed to California Democrat Ms Waters was found in Los Angeles.
CNN’s New York office was evacuated on Wednesday morning after a package addressed to former CIA director John Brennan was found in its mailroom. In Florida, another package was discovered that was addressed to former attorney general Eric Holder.
The packages are being analysed by the FBI at its laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, with authorities reluctant to go public with more than board patterns.
At least five of the packages, including the one sent to Mr Soros, involved manila envelopes addressed to prominent Trump critics and carried a similar arrangement of labelling and US postage stamps. The Florida address of Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz was listed as the return address of most of the packages.
Investigators were seeking forensic clues left on the unexploded packages and were following other leads. A number of the packages had travelled through the US Postal Service, although at an afternoon press conference it was said none had been seen for at least eight hours.
However, John Miller, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, said that authorities “don’t know” yet if other devices were on the way to being delivered and urged Americans to remain vigilant.
That vigilance was seen in the De Niro case, with NYPD Commissioner Mr O’Neil also praising the retired detective who called the emergency services in the pre-dawn hours on Thursday because the images he was seeing on television resembled a package he had intercepted on its way to the actor.
If you want to see how the day progressed, follow the live blog below
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Sky News has reported federal law enforcement officials are following leads in Florida surrounding the series of suspicious packages containing explosive devices that were sent to Democratic leadership and those considered critical of Donald Trump.
At least one package arrived in Florida at the offices of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee whose name appeared on several return labels included with the packages.
A building adjacent to the US Capitol has been evacuated after a fire alarm was triggered, causing already-high tensions to rise on Capitol Hill amid numerous interceptions of suspicious packages sent to high-profile recipients.
The CNN offices were evacuated yesterday after a fire alarm was set off to alert the newsroom about the discovery of a pipe bomb sent to the Time Warner headquarters.
The fire alarm in Washington was caused by an electrical malfunction, Reuters reported.
Investigators believe all of the suspicious packages sent to Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Debbie Wasserman Schultz were shipped through the US Postal Service.
Law enforcement is reportedly focusing on Florida where federal officials are following numerous leads.
As federal officials investigate the latest suspicious packages sent to Joe Biden and Robert De Niro, here's The Independent's timeline on the thread of explosives sent to prominent Democrats throughout the week, beginning with liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros.
Investigators believe all of the suspicious packages sent to Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Debbie Wasserman Schultz went through the US Postal Service “at some point,” Reuters reported.
Law enforcement is reportedly focusing on Florida where federal officials are following numerous leads.
Rep John Garamendi called for a calming of rhetoric in an interview with CNN after suspicious packages were sent to prominent Democrats across the country.
“It's a sad time, it's a very dangerous moment for America," the California Democrat said. "All of us need to understand that our words have impact... I would hope that the President would be more careful.”
Law enforcement officials are currently trying to determine whether the bombs were designed to go off, or whether they were inactive and sent to sow fear.
The bombs set to go off on a timer, but never did. They also were not rigged to go off when someone opened the package. It's possible that the bombs never would have gone off in the first place, but police aren't sure whether that's because they were poorly designed or because the person who made them wasn't intending for them to explode.
FBI assistant director William Sweeney has declared that the powder recently found in envelopes were not physically dangerous.
"The powder in those particular envelopes did not present a biological threat," he said during a press conference.
It had been suspected that the white powder in suspicious packages might have been anthrax, and part of an attack linked to the pipe bomb scare.
"We don't know" if other bombs are out there, NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said during a press conference.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that it was important that New Yorkers remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.
"This is absolutely terrorism," New York City mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press conference. "The whole game plan of terrorists is to intimidate us. New Yorkers refuse to be intimidated.”
FBI assistant director William Sweeney said that the FBI is not treating the devices as hoaxes.
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