Person detained in mail-bomb scare
Devices still being intercepted
Federal authorities have detained a person in connection with the mail-bomb scare that widened to 12 suspicious packages, a Justice Department official said Friday. Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said authorities planned to announce more information at a press conference.
Earlier Friday, authorities said suspicious packages addressed to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper - both similar to those containing pipe bombs sent to other prominent critics of President Donald Trump- had been intercepted.
The discoveries - making 12 so far - further spurred a coast-tocoast investigation, as officials scrambled to locate a culprit and possible motive amid questions about whether new packages were being sent or simply surfacing after a period in mail system. The devices have targeted wellknown Democrats including former President Barack Obama, former Vice-President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and former Attorney General Eric Holder.
The FBI said the package to Booker was intercepted in Florida. The one discovered at a Manhattan postal facility was addressed to Clapper at CNN’s address. An earlier package had been sent to former Obama CIA Director John Brennan via CNN in New York.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday the Justice Department was dedicating every available resource to the investigation “and I can tell you this: We will find the person or persons responsible. We will bring them to justice.”
Trump, on the other hand, complained that “this ‘bomb’ stuff” was taking attention away from the upcoming election and said critics were wrongly blaming him and his heated rhetoric.
Investigators were analyzing the innards of the crude devices to reveal whether they were intended to detonate or simply sow fear just before Election Day.
Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that the devices, containing timers and batteries, were not rigged to explode upon opening. But they were uncertain whether the devices were poorly designed or never intended to cause physical harm. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, in an interview Thursday with Fox News Channel, acknowledged that some of packages originated in Florida. One official told AP that investigators are homing in on a postal facility in Opa-locka, Florida, where they believe some packages originated. The package addressed to Booker was found during an oversight search of that facility, according to a law enforcement official.
Most of those targeted were past or present U.S. officials, but one was sent to actor Robert De Niro and billionaire George Soros.