Two new suspicious devices — mailed to former Vice President Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro — were discovered as police try to track down the person or persons behind several mailed pipe bombs.
New York police released a photo Wednesday of the bomb received at CNN headquarters, and based on these details security personnel at De Niro’s Tribeca Productions office in lower Manhattan called 911 at about 5 a.m. today to report a similar-looking package.
De Niro, who has played special counsel Robert Mueller on Saturday Night Live, said onstage at the Tony awards in June, “I’m going to say one thing, F— Trump. It’s no longer ‘Down with Trump.’ It’s f— Trump.”
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio praised the “really quick-witted work of a security guard” at the production office “for the fact that nothing happened and no harm was done to anyone.”
“The question on everyone’s mind of course is ‘How long will this go on?’” de Blasio said. “It might be hours, it might be days, it might be weeks.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered “100 additional National Guard soldiers and directing State law enforcement to double security at vital assets across New York, including LaGuardia and JFK, mass transit systems, and bridges and tunnels.”
“Public safety is our number one priority, and we are taking all necessary precautions to ensure the safety and security of New Yorkers,” Cuomo said today, adding the move was made “out of an abundance of caution.”
Two packages were sent to Biden and intercepted in Delaware mail facilities. The address label on one photo released — a package flagged for insufficient postage — used the VP’s full name, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.
“The #FBI 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,” the Bureau tweeted without further comment.
Bombs have been sent to the Chappaqua, N.Y., home of Hillary Clinton, the D.C. home of former President Obama, and to former CIA Director John Brennan at CNN headquarters in New York. Suspicious packages were also intercepted addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) at the congressional mail sorting facility outside D.C. and addressed to former Attorney General Eric Holder; the package to Holder was addressed wrong and bounced back to the return address on the package, which was Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (D-Fla.) home-state office.
That follows a pipe bomb found in George Soros’ mailbox by a property caretaker Monday afternoon in Katonah, N.Y. The package was hand-delivered.
Wasserman Schultz said in a Wednesday statement, “We will not be intimidated by this attempted act of violence. Today, my staff and I will hug each other and our loved ones tightly, and tomorrow we will get back to work serving the people I was elected to represent.”
Biden has not commented on the latest discovery, but tweeted Wednesday, “This country has to come together. This division, this hatred, this ugliness has to end.”
If you have info that could assist the #FBI‘s investigation of suspicious packages, call 1-800-CALLFBI (225-5324) or use https://t.co/iL7sD5efWD. If you observe suspicious activity that requires an immediate response, call 911 or contact local law enforcement immediately. pic.twitter.com/ZsFLKvXrKy
— FBI (@FBI) October 25, 2018
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