THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS STORY, AND WILL BE UPDATED. Authorities in New York are holding a press conference on 7 or more suspicious packages, some of which contained pipe bombs, sent to political targets, mostly in New York state. On the face of it, the coordinated attack appears to be an attempt to assassinate up to 7 different perceived political enemies of President Donald Trump.
One or more of the packages also contained envelopes that had an unknown white powder inside.
All of the targets are perceived as activist Democrats.
Targets include former first families the Obamas and the Clintons, NY governor Andrew Cuomo, philanthropist George Soros, the headquarters of CNN in New York, and former Attorney General Eric Holder. An additional package addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) was intercepted at a U.S. Congress mail facility, which was not located on-site where the congresswoman works.
The bomb sent to Holder ended up being re-routed to the return address of Florida Democratic congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, in Florida. There was no package addressed to her, but multiple packages had her address as the return address.
The CNN package got all the way into the mailroom.
During the live TV briefing, New York governor Andrew Cuomo revealed that his office in Manhattan also received a package similar to the ones sent to others, which contained explosive devices.
Suspicious package @NYGovCuomo said was sent to his midtown NYC office contained "no device of any kind," according to @NYPDnews.
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) October 24, 2018
An ATF official said during the press conference that the device sent to CNN was a pipe bomb.
NYPD said the device sent to CNN was "a live explosive device," and the implication is that this and other devices had the capacity to kill. None of the devices went off. Their lethality has not yet been confirmed by bomb technicians.
Feds wouldn't disclose during the press conferences exactly what was in the package, but said 'it was consistent with the other packages.'
The investigation is ongoing. Authorities appear to be saying that various devices sent to the Clintons in New York, the Obamas at one of their addresses, George Soros in New York, Maxine Waters, and Eric Holder (rerouted to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz) were similar in nature and capacity.
Mayor Bill de Blasio: "I want to make clear the people of New York will not be intimidated, we are going to go about our lives undeterred."
No specific threats to other areas of the city at this time, the mayor says, but media locations around the city will get extra police presence.
It's not clear exactly how these devices were sent.
Nothing is known yet about any suspects.
This post was last updated at 10:41am Pacific Time on Wednesday, October 24, 2018.
Soros
Obama
The Clintons
CNN
Eric HolderSo, Glenn Beck's whiteboard. https://t.co/pDGYPeNdJj
— Brandy Zadrozny (@BrandyZadrozny) October 24, 2018
Here's the package containing a "live explosive device" and white powder that was addressed to John Brennan at CNN's office with Debbie Wasserman Schultz's return address.
Brennan is misspelled and Florida is "Florids" pic.twitter.com/sFxCyQUDNl
— Tasneem N (@TasneemN) October 24, 2018
Both "Brenan" and "Shultz" are misspelled https://t.co/Eui8rUmilD
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) October 24, 2018
The same return address was used for the Clinton and Obama suspicious packages, law enforcement says https://t.co/QB7fqBqcqN
— CNN International (@cnni) October 24, 2018
Throw the names of those reportedly targeted—Soros, Obama, Clinton, CNN, Holder, Wasserman Schultz—onto a chalkboard, attach some strings between their names, and oh baby you've got a TV segment—oh, wait, right.
— "Andrew Kirell" is my Halloween costume (@AndrewKirell) October 24, 2018
Hillary Clinton praises the Secret Service for their response to a bomb threat on her residence in Westchester County, New York, adding that we live in a "troubling time… of deep divisions." https://t.co/4R1BQuBNPf pic.twitter.com/hwiI31pbzi
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) October 24, 2018
This photo obtained by @ABC and confirmed by two law enforcement sources shows the device recovered from @CNN by the NYPD bomb squad. pic.twitter.com/HFzTMSoJXG
— Gio Benitez (@GioBenitez) October 24, 2018
George Soros's son, on what changed in 2016: "A genie was let out of the bottle, which may take generations to put back in, and it wasn't confined to the United States." https://t.co/mzzOU8rvHy
— David Gura (@davidgura) October 24, 2018
INTERESTING: Cuomo confirmed a device sent to his office. Indicative that the bomber is likely resident in NY State. Out of staters don't think about this governor at the same level as HRC or Obama. The angriest people are upstaters still furious over the NY SAFE gun control act.
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) October 24, 2018
False alarm in San Diego…but as many as other seven suspicious packages found elsewhere around US: https://t.co/O4tXIfILjG
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) October 24, 2018
Reminder that the majority of terror attacks in the US are carried out by the far-right https://t.co/DhO87sCgCV
— Klippenstein's monster (@kenklippenstein) October 24, 2018
JUST IN: Authorities intercepted a suspicious package that was addressed to former Attorney General Eric Holder, people familiar with the matter told NPR's @johnson_carrie.
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) October 24, 2018
This is the suspicious package received this morning at the Time Warner Center, which houses the CNN New York bureau.
Police say the package appeared to be a "live explosive device." It has now been removed and taken to a NYPD facility in the Bronx. https://t.co/8mBvdMxf8q pic.twitter.com/4do7Io7yjn
— CNN International (@cnni) October 24, 2018
BREAKING: Authorities intercept suspicious package that was sent to former AG Eric Holder, officials tells @PeteWilliamsNBC. pic.twitter.com/3otSSLPxb3
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 24, 2018
Slightly noteworthy that the FBI just publicly described the suspicious packages in exact same terms they use to define "domestic terrorism." "The utilization of violence in order to further one's own political agenda is unacceptable," senior FBI official just said at press conf.
— Mike Levine (@MLevineReports) October 24, 2018
The president is spreading what he now admits are made-up theories about dangerous Middle Easterners migrating through southern Mexico.
Meanwhile, actual violent threats are being made against those the president has designated as his enemies: CNN, George Soros, the Clintons.— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) October 24, 2018
All the latest reporting from @abc: Capitol Police investigating one suspicious package containing an explosive device intercepted on way to the Capitol https://t.co/kcz0Uaeb5e via @ABC
— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) October 24, 2018
tell that to damn near every abortion clinic https://t.co/locPuMwiJu
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) October 24, 2018
Armored police vehicle across the street from the NYT building pic.twitter.com/9w9pmVT2H9
— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) October 24, 2018
just into @CNN from me, @MaryKayMallonee & @PamelaBrownCNN: 2 law enforcement sources confirm to CNN that a suspicious package has been intercepted at a Congressional mail screening facility in Capitol Heights, Maryland. The Capitol Hill Police bomb squad is on the scene.
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) October 24, 2018
A Fox News columnist is among the pro-Trump media declaring that explosive devices sent to Obama and Clinton are a false flag https://t.co/wThVO4GjKI pic.twitter.com/UfTOzhIAp3
— Media Matters (@mmfa) October 24, 2018
"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building." – Ann Coulter https://t.co/xJX1zo4WOd
— Zedward D Wood Junior (@Zeddary) October 24, 2018
Two of the top four rising posts on r/The_Donald right now are the false flag narrative.
About an hour ago, a post said this was "straight out of the Democrat playbook."
"They are doing it to themselves," it said. pic.twitter.com/cSGgwBXdsM
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) October 24, 2018
The unabomber, which is how it's spelled, had a section called "The Dangers of Leftism" in his manifesto and derided the "totalitarian tendencies" of leftists, whom he said were "inconsistent with wild nature [and] human freedom."
So this is entirely wrong. https://t.co/i0YcvrJuzJ
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) October 24, 2018
Notable comment from @NYPDONeill: "Don't encourage attacks on the media….that is contributing to the choices people are making. There's no question about it"
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) October 24, 2018
