Bomb squads were called to a post office in Atlanta on Monday about a suspicious parcel, just hours before a court hearing for a Florida man accused of sending packages containing explosive material to prominent Democrats.
The FBI did not identify to whom the most recent package was addressed, but CNN President Jeff Zucker announced that a suspicious package addressed to the cable television network was intercepted Monday at an Atlanta post office.
Zucker said there was no imminent danger to the CNN Center. Another package was delivered to the cable network’s New York offices last week, causing an evacuation.
The latest suspicious package comes just hours before a federal court hearing was to begin in Miami for Cesar Sayoc, 56, who faces five federal charges.
He is accused of sending bubble-wrapped manila envelopes to Democrats such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, as well as George Soros, the philanthropist of a number of leftish causes who figures in several conspiracy theorites propagated by hard right websites.
The packages were intercepted from Delaware to California. At least some listed as a return address that of U.S. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chair of the Democratic National Committee.
She represents the Florida district where the former male stripper, pizza driver and strip club DJ lived in an older van covered with bumper stickers praising President Donald Trump, disparaging Democrats and CNN and showing rifle crosshairs over liberals like Clinton and filmmaker Michael Moore.
Authorities did not immediately say who might be responsible for sending the most recent package to CNN, but law enforcement officials have said they believe the packages were staggered and more could be discovered.
A bomb squad arrives with other authorities at a mail facility in Atlanta after reports that a suspicious package was found on Monday. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
The network said that the “package looks similar in appearance to the wave of pipe bombs that were mailed last week to prominent Democrats around the country, including two that were addressed to CNN’s New York bureau.”
Sayoc was arrested Friday outside a South Florida auto parts store after investigators said they identified him through fingerprint and DNA evidence. He is being prosecuted in New York, so his Florida hearing will likely be brief and process-oriented. The main issue will be whether he waives extradition to New York and whether he seeks release on bail.
Authorities say Sayoc faces more than 50 years in prison if convicted on all charges. None of the bombs exploded, and no one was injured.
Trump tweets
The mass mailings have heightened political tensions ahead of midterm elections on Nov. 6 that will determine the composition of Congress as well as state houses.
Trump, in a series of tweets on Monday morning, continued to focus his attention on media coverage.
“The Fake News is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, Conservatives and me for the division and hatred that has been going on for so long in our country,” he said.
Instead, Trump said, it is the “inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news” that is driving much of the heated rhetoric in the country.