Popular American Actor, Robert De Niro is the latest recipient of the “bomb” parcels that has been going round for some days now, after a similar package was sent to some prominent Democrats and supporters of Democrats, including former President of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
According to media reports, the suspected package was said to have been sent to the Tribeca Grill, which is a New York restaurant owned by the actor Robert De Niro.
While investigation are still ongoing, and condemnations have greeted the move, it is a public knowledge that Robert De Niro is a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and it is on record that he once called him “a national disaster”.
The New York Police Department said the restaurant building was empty at the time the suspicious device arrived.
Shortly after the news broke, President Trump appeared to pin the blame on the media, tweeting:
“The safety of the American People is my highest priority. I have just concluded a briefing with the FBI, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Secret Service.
“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.” He said.
He made no direct reference to the device found at the restaurant, or any of the earlier incidents.
Bomb scareThe series of bomb alerts began on Monday when explosive devices were sent to locations in New York, the Washington DC area and Florida, authorities said on Wednesday.
The first was found near the home of billionaire businessman George Soros, a major Democratic Party donor.
Other devices were sent to the following individuals, according to the FBI:
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Former President Barack Obama
Former CIA Director John Brennan, care of CNN
Former Attorney General Eric Holder
California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters
Liberal philanthropist and financier George Soros (on Monday)
CNN’s New York office was evacuated on Wednesday morning after the package, addressed to Mr. Brennan, was found in its mailroom.
None of the devices went off. The FBI has launched a manhunt for their sender.
The attempted bombings come just under two weeks before the mid-term elections, with US politics highly polarised.
President Trump first responded on Wednesday by telling the media to end the “constant negative and oftentimes false attacks”.
He also called for more civility in public life, saying:
“Those engaged in the political arena must stop treating political opponents as being morally defective.
“No-one should carelessly compare political opponents to historic villains, which is done often.”
The president made no specific reference to the intended recipients of the packages.
Underlying political interplay the apparent bomb targets are regularly criticized by conservatives – and especially by Mr. Trump.
The president’s critics have called his remarks hypocritical, as he often uses vicious language against his opponents and the press.
Some of his supporters have said they believe the packages are part of a Democratic plot to win votes in the mid-terms, but there is no evidence for this.
“An FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force will continue to work to identify and arrest whosoever is responsible for sending these packages,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
source:BBC