October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts

In late October 2018, sixteen packages containing pipe bombs were mailed via the U.S. Postal Service to several prominent critics of U.S. President Donald Trump, including leading Democratic Party politicians such as former U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. While the packages were initially treated as live bombs, analysis indicated some of them could not explode, though it is unclear if they were "intentional" duds. Other people who were sent packages include U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, U.S. Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, two former intelligence chiefs (ex-CIA Director John O. Brennan and ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper), billionaires George Soros and Tom Steyer, and actor Robert De Niro. One package was addressed only to CNN and sent to its world headquarters. The attempted bombings prompted investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. All sixteen confirmed bombs sent were actual improvised explosive devices, though none of them had a trigger mechanism and none of the devices exploded outside of a controlled setting. A suspect, Cesar Altieri Sayoc Jr., was arrested in Florida on October 26 and charged with five federal crimes the following week. The FBI is investigating the case as domestic terrorism. Mailings- Monday, October 22: A device was found in the mailbox at the home of George Soros in Katonah, New York. Soros, who is regularly the subject of conspiracy theories and threats by right-wingers, was absent. The employee who found the device carried it away to a wooded area where bomb squad officers safely detonated it. Tuesday, October 23: A device addressed to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (misspelled as "Hilary") was intercepted by the Secret Service in Chappaqua, New York. Also a former U.S. Senator and the wife of former President Bill Clinton, she was President Trump's main opponent in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Wednesday, October 24: A device addressed to former President Barack Obama was intercepted by the Secret Service during a mail screening in Washington, D.C. Additionally, a package containing an explosive and suspicious powder was found in CNN's mail room in the Time Warner Center in New York City, addressed to former CIA Director John O. Brennan (misspelled as "Brenan"). CNN reported that law enforcement said the package was delivered by courier. Brennan has served as a senior national security and intelligence analyst for MSNBC and NBC News since February 2018, but has appeared on CNN in the past. The bomb alarm occurred during CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto. Along with their colleagues Kate Bolduan and Athena Jones, Harlow and Sciutto left the building, but continued to report via Skype over a cellphone line. A suspicious package addressed to U.S. Representative Maxine Waters was intercepted by United States Capitol Police. Another package addressed to Waters led to the evacuation of a U.S. Postal Service facility in Los Angeles. A package addressed to former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, with a bad address, was returned to the purported sender, the office of U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Sunrise, Florida. Thursday, October 25: In the early morning hours, a package was found in Tribeca, New York City, addressed to actor Robert De Niro via his company TriBeCa Productions. Authorities also found a package in New Castle, Delaware, addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden with his full name, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. It was returned to the post office due to insufficient postage. A second package meant for Biden, this one with a wrong address, was found at a facility in Wilmington, Delaware. The Miami-Dade Police Department and federal authorities believe several of the packages went through a mail processing and distribution center in Opa-locka, Florida, and searched the facility with a bomb squad and K-9 unit. Friday, October 26: Authorities found four packages similar to previous packages. One addressed to former National Intelligence Director James Clapper (which, like the one sent to John Brennan, had CNN's Time Warner Center address) was found in a New York City postal facility, while another addressed to U.S. Senator Cory Booker was found in a Florida postal facility. Authorities later found a bomb addressed to U.S. Senator Kamala Harris in Sacramento, California, and one addressed to billionaire Tom Steyer in Burlingame, California. Monday, October 29: CNN President Jeff Zucker issued an alert to employees that a suspicious package sent to the CNN Center was found at a post office in Atlanta, Georgia. Jim Sciutto posted a picture of the package on Twitter and it was similar to the others. Unlike the other two sent to CNN, it was not addressed to a specific person. Thursday, November 1: A second package addressed to Tom Steyer was found in Burlingame, California. Devices and envelopes: According to The New York Times, the device sent to Soros's house was constructed from a length of PVC pipe about six inches long filled with explosive powder, and was proactively detonated by bomb squad technicians. Authorities reported that the devices recovered on October 24 were packed with shards of glass. A law enforcement official told reporters that the devices sent to Clinton and Obama were similar in design to the one that was sent to Soros. According to the Associated Press, a law enforcement official said tests have determined that white powder found inside an envelope delivered to CNN along with a pipe bomb was harmless. The bombs also contained pyrotechnic powder but lacked a triggering mechanism; the FBI described them as "potentially destructive devices." Law enforcement officials told the Associated Press the devices contained batteries and timers but were not rigged to explode when they opened.The officials said they're still trying to determine if the devices were shoddily constructed or simply meant to sow fear. At a press conference following the arrest of the suspect, FBI Director Christopher Wray described the bombs as improvised explosive devices, stating that they were "not hoax devices". All of the devices were sent in yellow manila envelopes lined with bubble wrap. They each had a printed address label and six Forever stamps as well as the return address of U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz's office in Sunrise, Florida. All of the return addresses contained the same spelling errors: Schultz was misspelled "Shultz" and Florida was misspelled "Florids". Each set of labels was typed in all capital letters. The packages were also furnished with a meme parody of the ISIL flag with the inscription "Git 'Er Done", a catchphrase of standup comedian Larry the Cable Guy. Photographs of the packages meant for CNN were posted to Twitter by Jim Sciutto and Jim Acosta. Investigation: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is leading the investigation, with assistance from the United States Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the United States Postal Inspection Service, the New York City, Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, and Atlanta police departments; and other law enforcement agencies. Images of envelopes taken by the U.S. Postal Service's Mail Isolation Control and Tracking system have been examined as part of the investigation. Several of the mail bomb packages were sent to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for inspection. A fingerprint found on one of the packages and DNA on two other packages pointed to Sayoc as the suspect. He was identified through video surveillance near a South Florida post office, and located by tracking his cell phone. He was arrested in the parking lot of an AutoZone store in Plantation, Florida.