Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Mail bomb:

SCARE MONGERING Authoritie­s term the sending of parcel bombs just days before elections as an act of terrorism

- Reuters letters@hindustant­imes.com

MIAMI: Federal authoritie­s investigat­ing the pipe bombs sent to prominent Democrats and critics of US President Donald Trump are focusing on Florida, where they believe at least some of 10 packages originated.

A police bomb squad and canine units joined federal investigat­ors on Thursday to examine a sprawling U.S. mail distributi­on center at Opa-locka, northwest of Miami, Miami-dade County police said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen confirmed that Florida appeared to be the starting point for at least some of the bomb shipments.

“Some of the packages went through the mail. They originated, some of them, from Florida,” she said during an interview with Fox News Channel. “I am confident that this person or people will be brought to justice.”

All the targets were figures fre- quently maligned by right-wing critics. They included Democratic Party donor George Soros, former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State and presidenti­al candidate Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former CIA director John Brennan and California Representa­tive Maxine Waters. Two packages were sent to her.

The Federal Bureau of Investigat­ion has said that at least five of the packages bore a return address for the Florida office of U.S. Representa­tive Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee. Holder’s package ended up being rerouted and was delivered to the Wasserman Schultz return address. Brennan’s package was sent in care of the Manhattan bureau of CNN, where he has appeared as an on-air analyst. On Thursday, the investigat­ion widened with the discovery of three additional packages. Two were intended for former Vice

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India