- The FBI appears to have zeroed in on a Florida mail center amid a nationwide manhunt for whoever is behind a wave of suspicious packages resembling pipe bombs sent in the mail.
- The targets, which include the residences of the last two Democratic presidents, have one obvious thing in common: They have all publicly and strongly criticized President Donald Trump.
- But despite the seemingly political bent to the targets, investigators haven't publicly identified a motive or even said if the devices were really bombs.
- Investigators went to a Florida mail center on Thursday.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, in Thursday night interview with Fox News, said some of packages originated in Florida.
The FBI appears to have zeroed in on a Florida mail center amid a nationwide manhunt for the perpetrator of a wave of suspicious packages resembling pipe bombs sent in the mail.
They were sent to top Democrats and critics of President Donald Trump, including the homes of former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
The package's sender targeted at least eight individuals with packages that arrived over the course of four days.
The targets, which also include former CIA Director John Brennan and actor Robert de Niro, have one obvious thing in common: They have all publicly and strongly criticized President Donald Trump.
But despite the seemingly political bent to the targets, investigators haven't publicly identified a motive or even said yet if the devices were really bombs.
Since none of the suspected bombs detonated investigators got the chance to inspect intact packages, providing a potential goldmine of clues and evidence. On Thursday, investigators descended on a Florida mail center to look for clues, CNN reported.
The packages, were all sent with a return address naming Congresswoman and former Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.
The devices contained timers and batteries, but weren't rigged to explode upon opening, the Associated Press reported. Secret Service agents found the packages sent to the current and former government officials, but CNN and George Soros also managed to weed out the dangerous packages on their own.
Investigators still don't know whether the packages were even intended to do harm or just to scare people, but for now they're treating it like an attempted bombing, the Associated Press reported.
"As far as a hoax device, we're not treating it that way," Police Commissioner James O'Neill told the Associated Press. Pipe bombs are crude explosive devices that have been used in terrorist attacks in the US to devastating effect.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, in a Thursday night interview with Fox News, said that some of packages originated in Florida.
The FBI described packages as "mailed in manila envelopes with bubble wrap interior, and were affixed with computer-printed address labels and six Forever stamps."
The FBI is "seeking the public's assistance in identifying the individual or individuals responsible."
Trump also took the mailings seriously, calling them on Wednesday "an attack on democracy itself."
But while CNN, the recipient of one of the suspicious packages called on Trump to reckon with his harsh criticism of the press and his political opponents, by Thursday, Trump had again turned on the media that he calls the "enemy of the people."