Update 2:27p.m.: The NYPD announced that the “device” Cuomo described as being sent to his office was actually just an informational pamphlet.
An NYPD official says the “suspicious package” at Cuomo’s office was in fact just an informational package containing literature, per @soniamoghe. https://t.co/OZHihNXQTk
— erica orden (@eorden) October 24, 2018
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said during a Wednesday press conference that his office had recently received an explosive device in the mail, one of at least six bombs sent to prominent Democrats and media outlets since Monday.
“A device has been sent to my office in Manhattan, which we were just informed about,” Cuomo said. “That device is also being handled.”
Cuomo’s announcement followed reports that prominent liberal figures — including president Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and former attorney general Eric Holder — were unsuccessfully targeted with mail bombs beginning Tuesday evening.
CNN was forced to evacuate its New York City headquarters Wednesday morning after a package containing an explosive device addressed to former CIA director John Brennan arrived in the mail room.
Cuomo said during the press conference that there was a “pattern” to the devices and initial reports suggest they were similarly constructed and carried the same return address, which is linked to an unnamed Democratic politician.
Prominent liberal activist George Soros became the first national figure to receive an explosive device in the mail on Monday.
While the police had not identified any additional, specific threats as of the press conference, Cuomo said “we wouldn’t be at all surprised if more devices show up.”
The White House condemned the attempted violence in a Wednesday morning statement.
“We condemn the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”