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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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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Hello and welcome to The Independent's live updates after a string of prominent critics of Donald Trump were seemingly targeted with explosive devices.
A suspicious package similar to those believed to have been sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and CNN yesterday has reportedly been found today at a New York restaurant owned by Robert De Niro.
Here's our report:
The first suspicious package was sent to billionaire philanthropist George Soros’s residence in New York on Monday. Here's a recap of what has happened since then:
This has been a rapidly developing story, with several suspicious packages found within hours of each other on Wednesday. Here's what we know so far:
The suspicious package sent yesterday to the offices of CNN - a bomb threat many have linked to Donald Trump's frequent attacks on the network - seem have done little to convince the president to tone down his anti-media rhetoric.
In a tweet a few moments ago, Trump blamed "purposely false and inaccurate reporting" for "the anger we see today in our society".
Although not explicitly stated, it seems likely the "the anger" Trump mentions is a reference to the explosives sent to his critics in the past three days.
A suspicious package addressed to former vice-president Joe Biden has found reportedly been found at a post office in Delaware.
It contained an explosive device similar to those sent to other leading Democrats this week, police officials told NBC.
If confirmed, this would be the ninth apparent bomb attack on a prominent Trump critic.
Authorities were reportedly tipped off by a postal worker about a suspicious package addressed to Joe Biden.
According to NBC, the worker contacted police after seeing reports on Wednesday about bombs sent to Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton and others, and recalling seeing a similar package addressed to the vice-president.
The FBI and police first searched Biden's house, but found nothing. Officers then swarmed a post office in New Castle, Delaware, where the package was discovered.
The FBI confirms there is law enforcement activity at the US mail facility in New Castle, Delaware. It says federal agents and New Castle County Police are responding.
The White House has said that President Donald Trump has been briefed on the latest packages to be found.
George Soros, one of those to receive a package containing a bomb, has been featured in a National Republican Congressional Committee advert originally released last week.
The ad from the National Republican Campaign Committee’s independent expenditure arm, entitled “Owes,” is aimed at Minnesota House candidate Dan Feehan, who is locked in a close contest with Republican Jim Hagedorn.
Mr Soros is portrayed as a "radical" and one of the forces who is claimed to “own” Mr Feehan, because of donations from a Soros foundation to the Center for a New American Security, where Mr Feehan is a fellow.
MSNBC is reporting that a second suspicious package addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden has been found at the mailing facility in Wilmington, Delaware
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