Bomb threats to Democrats prompt NYPD to boost security, patrols

Mayor Bill de Blasio as well as top officials with the NYPD and FBI urged New Yorkers to remain vigilant on Thursday as investigators continue to search for the source of at least 10 packaged explosive devices that were sent to prominent Democrats and their supporters this week.

"My message today is New Yorkers are safe. There are no current credible threats against New York City," NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said at an afternoon news conference.

The NYPD stepped up security and patrols at several high-profile locations throughout the city after two of the suspicious packages were discovered at the Time Warner Center offices of CNN in Columbus Circle and actor Robert De Niro ‘s Tribeca Grill restaurant.

"One of the things we emphasize in a moment like this, you’re going to see a lot of police presence," de Blasio said at the news conference. "We’re going to make sure there’s an expanded presence as long as needed to show very vividly that New York City takes these [things] seriously."

The police department also reached out to organizations and some individuals they consider to be potential targets, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said.

An NYPD canine officer and his dog sniffs a vehicle as an NYPD bomb disposal truck, background right, stands by on West 58th Street next to the Time Warner Center after an explosive device was discovered in a mailroom Wednesday. Photo Credit: Craig Ruttle

The package sent to De Niro and two packages sent to former Vice President Joe Biden intercepted at a mail facility in Delaware on Thursday are similar in appearance to others sent to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, billionaire liberal donor George Soros, former CIA director John Brennan in care of CNN, former Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, according to the FBI.

Each device was contained inside manila packaging with a bubble-wrapped interior, computer-printed label and a return address in Florida for U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

The package addressed to Brennan that was found at CNN’s New York City bureau on Wednesday also contained a white powder that tests showed “did not present a biological threat," FBI assistant director in charge William F. Sweeney, Jr. said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the devices, which officials have described as crude. Some experts have suggested the packages were meant to cause fear rather than inflict harm, but O’Neill and Sweeney warned the public to take the threat seriously.

"Do not touch, move, or handle, any suspicious or unknown packages. Leave it to the experts, and call law enforcement immediately," Sweeney said.

A federal law enforcement source said FBI investigators are focusing on leads in Florida. Some of the packages went through the United States Postal Service at some point, but Sweeney declined to specify where investigators believed they originated.

Sweeney said officials are keeping a tight lid on the specifics of the case in an effort to not compromise the investigation or a future prosecution, but added that agents were, "working quickly to process and analyze relevant information."

"We will continue to do so for as long as it takes," he added.

All of the packages that were recovered in New York have been sent to the FBI’s facility in Quantico, Virginia, for further analysis, Miller said.

While Trump on Wednesday said there would be a full investigation and that, “acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America," he also partially blamed the media for the bombs.

"A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!" he wrote on Twitter Thursday morning.

Earlier Thursday, de Blasio said while it was "simplistic" to say the mail bombs were incited by Trump’s rhetoric, he added that the president needed to "change his tone." De Blasio, however, doubted he would.

"The hatred that’s out there has existed in this country for a long time. He has given it license, he has given it permission, he has made it easier for those voices of hate to come forward — that is a fact," de Blasio said. "And it’s coming from the top and that makes it particularly unfortunate. But the hatred’s been there and we have to address it at its root, which is really all of our responsibility."

With Ivan Pereira and Matthew Chayes