‘Pipe bombs’ sent to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

US authorities have reportedly intercepted explosive devices intended for former US president Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and several other senior political figures.

The devices, described by The Guardian as “pipe bombs”, were sent to the homes of Obama and Clinton, as well as the offices of Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters and New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

CNN’s New York bureau received a suspicious package addressed to Former CIA director John Brennan, and the office of the San Diego Union-Tribune was evacuated after a similar package was delivered there.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

“All the apparent targets are regularly criticised by conservatives - especially by President Trump,” the BBC says.

Law enforcement officials have also told CNN that they are working to track down a package addressed to former US vice president Joe Biden.

Its whereabouts are unknown as the package had reportedly been wrongly addressed and “returned to sender”.

Trump has addressed the media, saying: “The full weight of our government is being deployed to conduct this investigation, and bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice. We will spare no resources or expenses in this effort.”

Speaking at a rally in Wisconsin last night, Trump 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.”

In a joint statement, senior Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said Trump’s latest words “ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence”.

“This clearly is an act of terror attempting to undermine our free press and leaders of this country through acts of violence,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told media.