Bombs sent to Obama, Clinton; explosives scare at CNN

[AWP]

I'll wait on the story, but the only speculation I have for motive is "Occam's Razor" or "Family Circus/ Rube Goldberg" behind this mess.

Whoever did it is a turd and their motivation doesn't matter to me. Bury them under the jail.

 

[Topkick]

Politicians and other talking heads need to take a look at the types of words that come out of their mouths and realize that the aggressive shit they say can motivate those crazies that don't know the difference between exaggeration and an actual call to arms.

Except It's also what gets the crazies to the voting booth, which is their primary concern.

 

[Muppet]

Just saw my local news. A bomb/package was sent to a Republican Tom Mertz, state rep in Hatboro, Motgomery County, PA, this AO is 18 miles out from Philly, 20 miles from where I work/live. Very populated, EOD and robot there, folks told to shelter in place.

Edit/update: no explosive device.

 

[racing_kitty]

Smart bombers know to test their shit before setting it into play. From what I’ve seen in open source, these aren’t nuclear gynecologists we’re dealing with. It could very well be that it was wired up wrong.

Certain electric timers are simple to learn, but not intuitive for someone just pawing around with pieces parts. That said, our erstwhile gardener may have just moved the wrong switch to the on position, making a two-hour timer (all times are hypothetical, BTW) into a two-day timer, or a two-day timer into seven days before sowing his seeds of hate and discontent. It’s an easy mistake to make, if that was indeed the case. If so, it’s a mistake we should be grateful for.

I am disinclined to believe that these devices were deliberately emplaced in an inert state. I could be wrong. If someone hasn’t come forward to pontificate in the next 24 hours about further escalating the situation, then it’s safe to say that any and all failures to function are a result of on-point security or general ineptitude.

ETA: Looking at the whole thing, I’m personally inclined to believe that the bomber(s) is/are definitely not nuclear gynecologists. I’d go with weaponized moron.

 

[DC]

Are these from one or common group or different individuals. If the latter what are the chances they all are wired incorrectly? With the puzzle of shipping I have to give someone credit for clever. Certainly a serious scenario regardless.

 

[racing_kitty]

Open source says they’re all linked. If it’s more than one bomb maker, then they are working off of the same schematic for how to build these particular devices. If Joe-Dean and Bubba Ray are putting it together the way Davy Joe told them to, and Davy Joe couldn’t put together a Lincoln log cabin, then Joe-Dean and Bubba Ray are not going to do any better. In fact, they may do worse. It’s not impossible, just not very likely.

Pipe bombs done right can be a motherfucker. This wasn’t done right. How it’s wired, the initiation system, the sheer amount of tape, the use of pipe bombs at all, where do I begin? It’s garbage. IMO, if it was someone wanting to scare some folks, I’d have made it a lot cleaner and damned hard to tell if it’s inert. If I wanted a no-shit body count, I wouldn’t have used a pipe bomb.

Like I said earlier, I’m going with weaponized moron here.

 

[Kakashi66223]

Thank you for your continued insight @racing_kitty.

One thing I noticed was in all the pictures none of the packages have PO stamps.

 

[Marauder06]

Thank you for your continued insight @racing_kitty.

One thing I noticed was in all the pictures none of the packages have PO stamps.

Were the packages actually delivered? Like the CNN one, or did the Post Office note that they were suspicious and pull them out of circulation? That would explain why the stamps don't appear to be cancelled, and why something that heavy (six stamps = 6 ounces of shipping, IIRC) got shipped-because it never made it out of the initial screening.

 

[racing_kitty]

Thank you for your continued insight @racing_kitty.

One thing I noticed was in all the pictures none of the packages have PO stamps.

Shipping a pipe bomb through the post office clerk is the only mistake this clown didn’t make. It would likely have never made it to its destination had they done it. Having a home postal meter would be too easy to track; I don’t know how many people have one at the hacienda, but it’s not many in proportion to the general population. Hell, the over abundance of postage stamps on the envelopes is itself a key ID feature of a package bomb (unless the return address has FBOP somewhere in it, but it still would warrant extra scrutiny).

I’ll bet that’s why it went through a courier service, most likely local, staffed by people who have not been trained to be critical of these things.

ETA: when I get home, I’ll dig for the link that said it was delivered via courier (I believe it was to CNN).

ETA 2: perusing the latest links, it was a combination of courier delivery and postal. From what I read in this AP article, the CNN device was via courier, and most of the other devices actually were recovered at mail facilities. I wasn’t entirely clear on it earlier (I blame self-inflicted info hypersaturation). The absence of postmarks means that someone was paying attention and pulled them before they were delivered.

 

[AWP]

ETA 2: perusing the latest links, it was a combination of courier delivery and postal. From what I read in this AP article, the CNN device was via courier, and most of the other devices actually were recovered at mail facilities. I wasn’t entirely clear on it earlier (I blame self-inflicted info hypersaturation). The absence of postmarks means that someone was paying attention and pulled them before they were delivered.

Years ago I worked on a contract (it's in my blood!) for the USPS. Some asuumptions and why:
- If the same person did this and was dumb enough to mail them all at the same time from the same facility, they would have dropped in a group during the sort process.
- Postal employees are trained in recognizing the sort of "extra postage" signature. Whether they all can is another story, but I digress.
-A lot of the mail is sorted by hand. A bubblewrap-linied envelope will still disclose the rough dimensions of its contents, especially a pipe.
- The second something sketchy appears in a postyal facility, a BOLO goes to the others. Postal Inspectors are Fed LEO or something like that, so once they are called and ID a package, you can bet that info went to other offices with a quickness.

I easily see a scenario where some clown dropped them off at once, they were missed at the post office, and went to a sorting facility. Who knows, maybe the local PO did discover them. Regardless, an employee picked one up (maybe even noticed the similarites in this cluster of packages), felt the contents, shat themselves, and alerted a manager.

It will be interesting to see how the discovery alone played out.

 

[Kakashi66223]

@Marauder06, your guess is probably better than mine sir. But it appears that the Soros package was opened by his employee and then taken out to the woods, I'm assuming you knew this much already.

@racing_kitty, I haven't read thru too much of the media info. As for many us that have a healthy skeptical outlook on most things this just struck me as mostly odd. For one, timing, post marks appear to be missing, and another that most of the internet circulated images of these packages were opened already. Mostly from images found when I googled under images filter. This evening I tried Fox and the site was not that stable for me, but the anchor in a video said earlier that it appears to not be "post marked." --corrected term--

Wonder if a courier service understands the implications if it did use a mail box. News said Soros' package was in the mailbox.

The department told Fox News that a suspicious package was found in a mailbox. The package contained bomb components, police said. Police referred Fox News to the F.B.I's New York office, which did not confirm the report.

It's sort of illegal to put any item in a mail box that is not post marked and delivered by a PO mail carrier. Not that it would matter to the veil and deceitful- U.S. Code 18 U.S. Code § 1725 - Postage unpaid on deposited mail matter.

I found this right before posting and thought to include after returning to see if Fox had any more info, guessing this is older as well but mentions the packages are in a"mail" facility

"Late Wednesday, the Los Angeles Central Mail facility was evacuated after employees found a suspicious package, which The Associated Press reported was addressed to Waters. The FBI later confirmed that it had recovered two packages addressed to Waters that were similar to the five it referenced in its earlier statement. The Los Angeles Police Department tweeted that its bomb squad had rendered the package at the mail facility safe and the investigation would be turned over to the FBI."​

FBI IDs 7 'suspicious packages' sent to Dem figures containing 'potentially destructive devices'

I'm gonna let you guys take it from here as its late and I'm a slow typer.

 

[BloodStripe]

Anything is possible. Pipe bombs are easy enough that an LT could put it together without losing a hand, but a pro would know when simplicity is necessary. It could be that the timer was set for longer than it took to find, defeat, and recover the device. Maybe it was wired wrong. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Not gonna lie, I’m dying inside for not being a part of the investigation.

Look at Ted Kaczynsk. Speaking strictly from a design standpoint, his early devices were not very complex, and that was done for a reason. A bomb is still a bomb, regardless of its complexities.

 

[Marauder06]

Can someone tell me what that sticker is or if it even is one?View attachment 24607

This is the "possible ISIS propaganda" pic I mentioned in my earlier post. I can't read the script (looks like it might be stylized Arabic?) and I can't see what the pics are (looks like part of possibly an ISIS flag, and a picture of a man?). But even if it is Arabic, and it is the ISIS flag, it doesn't mean it was sent by ISIS. It could totally be a false flag. Which is why we usually try to wait for more details before running off and assigning blame.

 

[Grunt]

It was a parody sticker with the words "Get er done" on it.

 

[Poccington]

Another two devices have been discovered, addressed to Joe Biden and Robert De Niro.

 

[racing_kitty]

Robert De Niro? There’s a twist.

 

[DC]

WTF.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Robert De Niro? There’s a twist.

Not really. If anything it reinforces my WAG that the sender of these devices is a right-wing nutcase who probably thinks he's 'on my side'.

De Niro has been brutally critical of the president, to the point where I have had to avoid recent interviews with him because I do not want my enjoyment of his earlier movies to be tainted by the distraction of his politics.

I was really disappointed by his behavior at The Tony's this year; it was a not-too-subtle reminder that these guys are just actors and not near as classy or disciplined as the characters that they portray.

NSFW - language

 

[Cookie_]

Not really. If anything it reinforces my WAG that the sender of these devices is a right-wing nutcase who probably thinks he's 'on my side'.

Seems much more likely, simply cause of the Deniro package.
I don't think the average person who isn't a fan of his, or into politics in general, would even remember his Tony speech in relation to the daily outrage cycle.

 

[DC]

I still would like to know if these devices were active explosive devices. Thankfully no one has been hurt.