Pipe bomb case in the USA in 2018
The pipe bomb case in the USA describes a series of pipe bombs sent by post to well-known opponents of US President Donald Trump . Ten pipe bombs were sent to politicians and journalists. The addressees included Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton and George Soros , but also the actor Robert De Niro should receive a pipe bomb package.
Sequence of events
On October 22nd, a suspicious package was found in the mailbox of the home of investor George Soros in Bedford , New York. This was blown up by bomb specialists in a nearby forest. Soros was not at his home at the time of the incident. A package addressed to Hillary Clinton was discovered the next evening before it reached her home in Chappaqua , New York.
A package addressed to former President Barack Obama was intercepted by the secret service on October 24th. Additionally, a package containing explosives and suspicious powder addressed to former CIA director John O. Brennan was found in the CNN mailroom at the Time Warner Center in New York City . Brennan joined MSNBC and NBC News as a Senior National Security and Intelligence Analyst in February 2018 , but has also worked for CNN in the past. Thereupon a bomb alarm was triggered.
Addressees of the packages, which presumably contained pipe bombs, were:
- George Soros , philanthropist, had financially supported Obama's election campaign
- Barack Obama , former US President
- Hillary Clinton , former US Secretary of State
- Eric Holder , former US attorney general
- Joe Biden , former US Vice President
- John O. Brennan , former CIA director and counter-terrorism adviser to Barack Obama
- Maxine Waters , Member of the House of Representatives (Democrats / California)
- Robert De Niro , actor, had supported Obama in the election campaign
Other suspicious packages with as yet unknown content were sent to:
- James R. Clapper , National Intelligence Director during the Obama Presidency
- Cory Booker , Senator (Democrat / New Jersey)
- Kamala Harris , Senator (Democrat / California)
- Tom Steyer , philanthropist, supporter of the Democrats, seeks impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump
Investigations
The FBI searched a mail center in Opa-locka, near Miami. Investigators assumed that all packages went through the US Post in one place.
On October 26, 2018, US authorities arrested a person believed to be linked to the pipe bombs. According to media reports, it was accessed in the greater Miami area (Florida). Apparently, the investigators had primarily followed the suspect's "digital tracks". The suspect 56-year-old Cesar S. is known to the police, a registered member of the Republican Party and Trump supporter. He had already been sentenced to suspended sentence for a bomb threat against the electricity company Florida Power & Light . He is said to have last been homeless and lived in his minibus, a Dodge Ram Wagon with a striking sticker .
FBI chief Christopher A. Wray announced that the explosive devices consisted of a 15 centimeter long PVC pipe, a small clock, a battery, wiring and an explosive material; there could be other previously undiscovered parcel bombs in circulation. A total of at least 13 such parcels were sent. The padded parcels were provided with printed address labels and the sender was the former Democratic Party leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz .
Reactions
President Donald Trump condemned the attack attempts, but blamed the media, among other things, for them. Hillary Clinton linked Trump's “ruthless rhetoric” with the attack attempts.
Trump complained in a tweet on October 26th that this "bombshell" was slowing down his party's upward trend in the November 6, 2018 mid-term elections .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reuters / dpa: explosive device in George Soros's mailbox. In: FAZ.net . October 23, 2018, accessed October 27, 2018 .
- ^ Karl de Vries, Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz, CNN: 'Act of terror': Bombs sent to CNN, Clintons, Obamas, Holder . In: CNN . (English, cnn.com [accessed October 26, 2018]).
- ↑ Parcel bombs to democrats - an overview , NZZ online, October 26, 2018
- ↑ Suspect is now under indictment , sueddeutsche.de, October 27, 2018
- ↑ tagesschau.de: Suspected package bombs: US authorities arrest suspects. Retrieved October 26, 2018 (German).
- ↑ n-tv news: FBI analyzes blueprints for the pipe bombs . In: n-tv.de . ( n-tv.de [accessed October 26, 2018]).
- ^ Letter bombs in the USA - suspect arrested . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2018, ISSN 0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on October 26, 2018]).
- ↑ "Crazy": Suspected US letter bomber is apparently a fanatical Trump fan , Berliner Zeitung online, October 28, 2018.
- ↑ 'He felt that somebody was finally talking to him': How the package-bomb suspect found inspiration in Trump , Washington Post online, October 27, 2018
- ↑ Trump denies complicity in letter bombs - Hillary Clinton attacks him head-on , stern.de, October 27, 2018; Suspect in letter bomb series indicted on five counts , Spiegel Online, October 26, 2018
- ↑ "Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this“ Bomb ”stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows - news not talking politics. Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote! " - Suspect in letter bomb series indicted on five counts , Spiegel Online, October 26, 2018