Denouncing political violence in America just eleven days before crucial mid-term elections for Congress, President Donald Trump on Friday praised the quick work of federal law enforcement authorities, as they detained a possible suspect in Florida in the investigation of at least a dozen suspected explosive devices which were sent to prominent Democrats, former intelligence officials, and critics of the President.
"These terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country," Mr. Trump said at the White House, soon after a man was taken into custody near Miami, Florida.
"We must never allow political violence to take root in America," President Trump said during an event in the East Room of the White House.
The President's comments came soon after the discovery of additional packages which were identical in nature to others sent to the Clintons, Obamas and other high profile people, all of whom had been critical of Mr. Trump.
As a pair of new packages were uncovered in postal facilities in New York and Florida, President Trump tweeted about illegal immigration, and complained about the number of his followers on Twitter, and then registered his displeasure with what he described as 'this "bomb" stuff,' saying it had interrupted political momentum for Republicans, with the mid-term elections less than two weeks away.
"Republicans are doing so well in early voting," the President wrote, but now, "news not talking politics."
Very early this morning - at 3:14 am EDT - the President was evidently awake and expressed his aggravation with CNN and the press in general, about how the news media was covering the mail bomb investigation.
Two new suspected explosive devices were found on Friday morning, one addressed to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and another to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
"This is definitely domestic terrorism, no question about it in my mind," Clapper said in an interview on CNN.
Like another package sent to former CIA Director John Brennan, the Clapper package was addressed in care of CNN in New York - this time, it was discovered at a postal facility several blocks away from the network's offices.
Clapper, who has strongly criticized President Trump at times since leaving his post in 2017, cited comments from Brennan earlier this week.
"This is not going to silence the administration's critics," Clapper said by phone.
The discovery of the Booker and Clapper packages raised the number of suspicious devices to a dozen:
+ 2 to former Vice President Joe Biden
+ 2 to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
+ 1 to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
+ 1 to former President Barack Obama
+ 1 to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
+ 1 to former Attorney General Eric Holder, which was returned to the sender's address of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
+ 1 to former CIA Director John Brennan via CNN
+ 1 to former DNI James Clapper via CNN
+ 1 to actor Robert DeNiro
+ 1 to political activist George Soros
Postal inspectors in New York had expressed hope on Thursday afternoon that no more packages were in the system, but the discoveries in Manhattan and south Florida raised the question of whether additional packages would still be uncovered.
About the Author
