‘Pipe bomb’ left in George Soros’s mailbox

FBI terror investigation opened after controlled blast near New York home of billionaire investor

THE FBI has embarked on a terrorism investigation after an explosive device was left outside the home of billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

Mr Soros, who funds a leading antibrexit campaign in the UK, has been a regular target of far-right and anti-semitic conspiracy theories due to his support for liberal causes.

Laura Silber, a spokeswoman for his Open Society Foundations yesterday urged politicians to “tone down their rhetoric” in the wake of the apparent attempted attack.

A device resembling a pipe bomb and loaded with black powder was found in the mailbox outside Mr Soros’s suburban New York home, law enforcement officials said yesterday.

They did not say whether any specific group is being investigated.

The FBI carried out a controlled explosion of the device near the house in Katonah, a hamlet of Bedford, New York, and have launched an investigation to track down the culprits.

The bomb was found in a package in the mailbox by one of Mr Soros’s staff at around 3.45pm on Monday but it is unclear whether it was delivered in the post or by hand. Mr Soros, 88, was not at home at the time.

“An employee of the residence opened the package, revealing what appeared to be an explosive device,” Bedford Police said in a statement.

The member of staff placed the suspicious package in a wooded area and called the police, a spokesman said. Police are still investigating whether the device was intended to go off, although they stated it “had the components” of an actual bomb, including explosive powder.

“The components were there for an explosive device,” said one unnamed official. “It was not a hoax device.”

The official said surveillance footage was being reviewed to establish how the package arrived at the property.

Bedford police said they have handed the investigation over to the FBI’S joint terrorism task force. The FBI’S New York field office said there was “no threat to public safety”.

Mr Soros, whose family is Jewish and survived Nazi-occupied Hungary, emigrated to the United States and went on to become one of the country’s most successful investors.

The businessman, who regularly donates to liberal causes across the world, was recently accused by conservative critics of secretly financing a caravan of Central American migrants making its way towards the US.

Soros is seen as the bogeyman on just about every Right-wing conspiracy theory floating out there,” said JJ Macnab, a domestic extremism expert at George Washington University. “The sheer volume of chatter makes it probable that someone acted on key figures, mainstream figures, pointing the finger at him,” he added.

Mr Soros has been a favourite target of Glenn Beck and other conservative commentators, who have accused him of waging war against capitalism and having a secret agenda to destabilise the US government.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump claimed that demonstrators protesting against his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, were “professionals” who were “paid for by Soros and others”.