Investigators dig for bomb motive, search postal facility in Florida
'Do not touch, move, or handle any suspicious or unknown packages,' FBI assistant director says
Latest developments:
- FBI says 10 suspicious packages have been located, urge people to remain vigilant.
- Source tells AP search of a postal database suggested at least some may have been mailed from Florida.
- Suspected explosive devices sent to FBI lab in Quantico, Va.
- Packages addressed to former VP Biden intercepted in Delaware.
- Actor De Niro, a Trump critic, apparent target of another package.
- Trump says in a tweet media are sowing division.
- White House defends Trump, brings up 2017 shooting that targeted Republicans.
Investigators searched coast to coast Thursday for the culprit and motives behind the bizarre mail-bomb plot aimed at critics of the president, analyzing the innards of the crude devices to reveal whether they were intended to detonate or simply sow fear two weeks before the U.S. midterm.
Three more devices were linked to the plot — two addressed to former vice-president Joe Biden and one to actor Robert De Niro — bringing the total to 10 in an outbreak of a politically loaded menace with little if any precedent. Authorities warned there might well be more.
Watch emergency vehicles transport a package from Manhattan:
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hailed "quick-witted work" of a security guard who alerted authorities at De Niro's Tribeca neighbourhood office.
De Blasio said the device removed from the office "was very similar to the devices that have located within the last 48 hours" at CNN and locations connected to prominent Democrats. He said it was being examined at a New York Police Department facility in the Bronx.
The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FBI?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FBI</a> has confirmed three additional packages, similar in appearance to the others – one in New York addressed to Robert DeNiro, and two in Delaware addressed to former Vice President Joseph Biden.
—@FBIMeanwhile, a law enforcement official said two packages addressed to Biden were intercepted at Delaware mail facilities in New Castle and Wilmington.The FBI said the packages bound for Manhattan and Delaware were similar in nature to those sent to other locations.
Speaking at a campaign stop in Lancaster, N.Y., outside of Buffalo, Biden said America has to "turn off this hate machine." The former vice-president said he hopes the packages addressed to him and others, have been "enough of a shock wave to say OK, enough is enough."
Packages treated like 'live devices'
Speaking at a news conference, FBI, NYPD and others involved in the probe took questions from reporters — but offered few details and did not speculate about possible motives.
When asked whether the bombs were rigged to explode, NYPD Police Commissioner James O'Neill said, "We are treating them as suspected explosive devices."
He said law enforcement are treating them as "live devices" as the investigation unfolds.
"As far as a hoax device, we're not treating it that way," said the commissioner said.
Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that the devices, containing timers and batteries, were not rigged like booby-trapped package bombs that would explode upon opening. But they were still uncertain whether the devices were poorly designed or never intended to cause physical harm.
A search of a postal database suggested at least some may have been mailed from Florida, one official said. Investigators are homing in on a postal facility near North Miami in Opa-locka, Fla., where they believe some of the packages originated, another official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation by name.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, in an interview Thursday night with Fox News Channel, acknowledged that some of packages originated in Florida.
Earlier in the day, the assistant director of the FBI told people to be cautious.
FBI ask people to be cautious, call tip line with any information.
"Do not touch, move, or handle any suspicious or unknown packages; leave it to the experts, and call law enforcement immediately," William Sweeney said.
There have been reports suggesting at least some of the packages may have originated in Florida, but when asked Thursday investigators declined to offer specifics.
Devices that are still intact are being sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Va., where investigators are trying to determine what the suspected explosive devices are made of.
'Let's get along,' Trump says
The White House on Wednesday condemned the apparent bombing campaign but the president has singled out media organizations for providing responsible coverage.
"A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News," he said in a tweet on Thursday. "It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!"
Watch as Trump tells a rally he is being "nice":
At a rally Wednesday night in Wisconsin, Trump said his government would conduct "an aggressive investigation" while calling for unity, saying Americans should "come together in peace and harmony."
"Let's get along," he said. "By the way, do you see how nice I'm behaving tonight? Have you ever seen this?"
Former CIA director John Brennan, the target of the package sent to CNN, fired back at Trump's tweet on social media.
"Stop blaming others. Look in the mirror," said Brennan. "Your inflammatory rhetoric, insults, lies, & encouragement of physical violence are disgraceful. Clean up your act....try to act Presidential."
The targets of the bombs were some of the people most frequently criticized by Trump, who still assails Clinton at rallies while supporters chant "lock her up" — two years after he defeated her in the election. Trump also often singles out cable news network CNN as he rails against the "fake news" media, while reporters covering his rallies have detailed being singled out for verbal abuse from his supporters.
At a campaign rally in 2016, Trump encouraged supporters to "knock the crap out of" any protester throwing an item, and earlier this month he expressed praise for Greg Gianforte's ability to body slam, a reference to a 2017 incident with a reporter, for which the the Montana congressman was later charged with assault.
The attacks overtook other news in an already tense political season that has included sparring over the Supreme Court and immigration leading up Nov. 6, when midterm elections could reshape Congress with more Democratic pushback of Trump's agenda, or cement Republican control for the final two years of his term.
The bombs, each with a small battery, were about 15 centimetres long and packed with powder and broken glass, said a law enforcement official who viewed X-ray images and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said the devices were made from PVC pipe and covered with black tape.
Soros, Holder, Waters among the targeted
The first crude bomb to be discovered had been delivered Monday to the suburban New York compound of George Soros, a liberal billionaire and major contributor to Democratic causes. It was reportedly detonated in wooded area nearby, according to law enforcement sources who spoke to AP.
Other packages containing bombs discovered Tuesday or Wednesday included those intended for Hillary Clinton, at the Chappaqua, N.Y., home she shares with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, and for former president Obama at his home in Washington, D.C.
The CNN package was addressed to Brennan, who has publicly clashed with Trump and is a regular television contributor, albeit for NBC.
The FBI said an additional package was intended for former attorney general Eric Holder, but it was located at the Florida office of congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was the chair of the Democratic National Committee for much of the contentious 2016 election season.
While the majority of discoveries were in the Eastern U.S., the FBI said two packages were intercepted in Los Angeles that had been addressed to Waters, who like De Niro has been branded by Trump as a "low IQ individual."
With files from CBC News