October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts

The first suspicious package containing such a device was found in the mailbox at the home of Democratic donor George Soros in Katonah, New York.[18] Soros, who is regularly the subject of conspiracy theories and threats by right-wing extremists, was absent. The employee who found the device carried it to a wooded area, where bomb squad officers safely detonated it.[19]

A package containing a device, addressed to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (misspelled as "Hilary"), was intercepted by the Secret Service during a mail screening in Chappaqua, New York.[20][21] A former U.S. Senator from New York and the First Lady of former President Bill Clinton, she was President Donald Trump's main opponent in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

A device addressed to former President Barack Obama was intercepted by the Secret Service during a mail screening in Washington, D.C.[20]

Additionally, a package containing an explosive and suspicious powder was found in CNN's mail room in the Time Warner Center in New York City, addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan (misspelled as "Brenan").[22] CNN reported that law enforcement said the package was delivered by courier.[23] Brennan has served as a senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News and left-leaning MSNBC since February 2018, but has also appeared on CNN.[24] The bomb alarm occurred during CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto.[25] Along with their colleagues Kate Bolduan and Athena Jones, reporters Harlow and Sciutto left the building, but continued to report via Skype over a cellphone line.[26][27][28]

A suspicious package addressed to U.S. Representative Maxine Waters was intercepted by United States Capitol Police.[23][29] Another suspicious package addressed to Waters resulted in the evacuation of a U.S. Postal Service facility in Los Angeles.[30]

A package addressed to former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, with a bad address, was returned to the purported sender, the office of former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman and current U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Sunrise, Florida.[23][31]

In the early morning hours, a package was found in Tribeca, New York City, addressed to actor, producer and director Robert De Niro, via his company TriBeCa Productions. De Niro has publicly expressed criticism of Trump.[32]

Authorities also found a package in New Castle, Delaware, addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden with his full name, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. It was returned to the post office due to insufficient postage, and examined because of the other packages.[33] A second package intended for Biden, but addressed incorrectly, was found at a facility in Wilmington, Delaware.[33] The Miami-Dade Police Department and federal authorities believe that several of the packages would have passed through a mail processing and distribution center in Opa-locka, Florida; they searched the facility for evidence with a bomb squad and K-9 unit.[34]

Authorities found four packages similar to previous packages. One addressed to former National Intelligence Director James Clapper (which, like the one sent to John Brennan, had CNN's Time Warner Center address) was found in a New York City postal facility, while another, addressed to U.S. Senator Cory Booker, was found in a Florida postal facility.[35]

Authorities later found a bomb addressed to U.S. Senator Kamala Harris in Sacramento, California, and one addressed to billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democratic donor who frequently appeared in ads encouraging Congress to impeach President Trump on CNN, in Burlingame, California.[36]

CNN President Jeff Zucker issued an alert to employees that a suspicious package sent to the CNN Center was found at a post office in Atlanta, Georgia.[9] Jim Sciutto posted a picture of the package on Twitter and it was similar to the others.[10] Unlike the other two sent to CNN, it was not addressed to a specific person.[8] President Trump has frequently criticized CNN and its employees in derogatory terms.[37][38]

A second package addressed to Steyer was found in postal facilities in Burlingame, California.[39]

Ilya Somin, a libertarian-leaning law professor at George Mason University and a scholar at the Cato Institute, reported that he was the subject of death threats from Sayoc made on Facebook in April 2018. According to Somin, after he appeared on a Fox News interview criticizing those who hold anti-immigration views, Sayoc (using an alias) posted on his Facebook and threatened to kill Somin and his family and "feed the bodies to Florida alligators". At the time, Somin's Facebook friends reported the comments to Facebook, which did not respond except for automated messages. Somin also reported the incident to George Mason University police and Arlington, Virginia law enforcement.[86]

Democratic strategist Rochelle Ritchie had also received a threatening tweet from Sayoc on October 11 that said: "Hug your loved ones real close every time you leave you home"; Twitter initially failed to act on this. Sayoc's accounts were permanently suspended after his arrest, and Twitter representatives have since apologized to Ritchie.[87]

Following his arrest, Sayoc was charged with five federal crimes:[66] "interstate transportation of an explosive"; "illegal mailing of explosives"; "threats against former presidents and certain other persons"; "threatening interstate communications"; and "assaulting federal officers".[88] The charges were filed by federal prosecutors of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).[89] Prosecutors from the SDNY said electronic devices owned by Sayoc had data showing that he began planning the attacks in July 2018.[90]

Sayoc was arraigned in Miami on October 29, 2018 and his court-assigned lawyer entered a plea of not guilty.[15] Three days later, he was ordered to be transferred to New York for trial.[91] On November 6, 2018, a New York judge ordered Sayoc to be held without bail in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York.[92]

On March 21, 2019, Sayoc pleaded guilty to 65 felony counts, including using weapons of mass destruction in an attempted domestic terrorist attack. In court, Sayoc stated: "I sent all 16 devices with the intent to threaten or intimidate. I know these actions were wrong."[4] Sayoc said that he did not intend for the bombs to explode, but "was aware of the risk that it would explode."[4]

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison on August 5, 2019.[17] During sentencing, Judge Jed S. Rakoff stated that the bombs were purposely designed not to explode or cause anyone damage. Bomb experts agreed that Sayoc's packages were not configured to detonate.[93] In sentencing Sayoc, Rakoff said he had concluded that Sayoc was capable of concocting a pipe bomb that could explode and had consciously chosen not to.[94]

In a filing by the defense on July 22, 2019, Sayoc's attorneys said he had "lost everything in the Great Recession", had "cognitive limitations and severe learning disabilities", and was "abandoned by his father and sexually abused by a teacher at his Catholic school." They said that he suffered from "anxiety and paranoia" and that he "came to believe that prominent Democrats were actively working to hurt him". They also said he was an avid Fox News viewer (especially the shows Fox & Friends and Hannity) and on social media, he "promoted various conspiracy theories, and more generally, the idea that Trump's critics were dangerous, unpatriotic, and evil."[95] At sentencing, Sayoc said before he mailed the bombs his idea "first was how to tone down the liberal left violence platform." He wrote that he believed prominent Democrats were encouraging violence, and said that he had been attacked personally.[93]

As of October 22, 2019, Sayoc is serving his 20-year sentence at United States Penitentiary, Marion. His earliest possible release date is November 10, 2035.[96]

Hillary Clinton thanked the Secret Service for intercepting the package and during a political event in Florida on behalf of Congressional candidate Donna Shalala she stated "Every day we are grateful for their commitment, and obviously never more than today, but it is a troubling time isn't it? And it's a time of deep divisions, and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together."[97] John Brennan pointed directly to Trump's rhetoric, saying that Trump "fuels these feelings and sentiments that now are bleeding over into potential acts of violence ... Unfortunately, I think Donald Trump, too often, has helped to incite some of these feelings of anger, if not violence, when he points to acts of violence or also talks about, you know, swinging at somebody from the press or the media."[97]

Several sources pointed out that some of the targets of the mailings, such as Clinton and Waters, are people that Trump routinely attacks at his campaign rallies – his "favorite punching bags."[98][99] New York Mayor Bill de Blasio described the packages as "an act of terror" and stated that all politicians must stop encouraging attacks on media.[100] Biden said of the attempts, "we've got to turn off this hate machine."[101] Wasserman Schultz responded saying, "We will not be intimidated by this attempted act of violence. This appalling attack on our democracy must be vigorously prosecuted, and I am deeply disturbed by the way my name was used."[102] Waters said, "I don't know whether the bombs are real or not, but we should not crawl under the bed, close the doors, not go out, be afraid to go to rallies. We have to keep to doing what we're doing in order to make this country right; that's what I intend to do, and as the young people say, I ain't scared."[103]

Trump held a midterm campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, on October 24, during the height of the mailings. He said of the bombings:

My highest duty, as you know, as President, is to keep America safe. That's what we talk about. That's what we do. The federal government is conducting an aggressive investigation and we will find those responsible and we will bring them to justice. Hopefully very quickly. Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy, itself. No nation can succeed that tolerates violence or the threat of violence as a method of political intimidation, coercion, or control. We all know that. Such conduct must be fiercely opposed and firmly prosecuted. We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony. We can do it. We can do it. We can do it. It will happen.[104]

The next day, Trump claimed on Twitter that the mainstream media were largely responsible for anger present in American society.[105] His comments were echoed by former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said that Trump had urged the public to come together and had sent a very clear, strong unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence had no standing in the United States. Sanders then attacked statements by CNN President Jeff Zucker, claiming that he "chose to attack and divide."[106] Trump also tweeted against the media, on October 24, stating, "Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blame me for the current state of Bombs and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma City bombing, yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, 'it's just not Presidential!'"[107]

Appearing before a group of young black conservatives an hour after the arrest, Trump praised the swift action by law enforcement and promised "swift and certain justice." He added, "We must never allow political violence to take root in America. We cannot let it happen. I am committed to do everything in my power as president to stop it and stop it now." A few minutes later he attacked Democrats and the media, to cheers from the crowd.[108] Later in the day he told reporters that he was in no way to blame for the attacks and had no plans to do anything differently. Asked if he might tone down his rhetoric in response to the mail bombs, he replied, "Tone down, no. Could tone up. I think I've been toned down, if you want to know the truth."[109]

On October 26, Trump claimed that news coverage of the pipe bombs targeting Democratic politicians and critics of his policies had drowned out other news stories and slowed Republican voting in the mid-term election. He tweeted, "Republicans were 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."[110]

CNN President Jeff Zucker said about the mailings, "There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media. The president, and especially the White House press secretary, should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that."[111] Zucker later stated that all mail sent to any CNN building will now be screened offsite.[8] CNN also reported that the bombings were one of three hate-motivated incidents that took place in the United States the same week, along with shootings in a synagogue in Pittsburgh and a Kroger grocery store in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.[112]

Following the news of the events, the hashtag "#MAGABomber" began trending on Twitter, referring to Trump's 2016 campaign slogan, "MAGA" (Make America Great Again).[113][114][115]

The incident has been the subject of conspiracy theories saying the events are part of a false flag operation, that the attacks were staged by those who hoped to cast the blame on Trump supporters.[116] When the incidents were first reported, conservatives such as columnist Kurt Schlichter and conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones issued social media posts and articles through InfoWars to assert their belief that the incidents were false flags, a "super convenient turn of events", and a potential "political stunt". Many of the comments were deleted as more information was received about the case.[117]

After having been started by overtly conspiracist outlets, the false flag narrative was later picked up by some mainstream conservatives.[118][119] Commentator Rush Limbaugh said that Republicans could not be responsible for the packages, that "Republicans just don't do this kind of thing. Even though every event, like mass shootings, remember, every mass shooting there is, the Democrats in the media try to make everybody think right off the bat that some tea partier did it, or some talk radio fan did it, or some Fox News viewer did it. Turns out, it's never, ever the case." Limbaugh instead raised unsubstantiated claims that the perpetrator might have been a "Democrat operative ... attempting to create the appearance that there are mobs everywhere."[120][121][122] Other right-wing commentators who tried to spread the "false flag" conspiracy theories included Ann Coulter, Dinesh D'Souza, Michael Savage, James Woods, Frank Gaffney, Candace Owens and Laura Loomer.[123][124]