After news broke Wednesday morning that explosive devices addressed to the Obama and Clinton families, as well as CNN in New York, were intercepted by law enforcement officials, Joyce Vance, wife of the Democratic nominee for Chief Justice of the Alabama state Supreme Court, Bob Vance, tweeted that President Donald Trump’s “rhetoric has contributed” to this type of violence.
Vance is an Alabama resident and a frequent MSNBC contributor. She was a United States Attorney appointed by President Barack Obama.
Joyce Vance said, “Trump must explicitly reject violence as a solution to our political differences. His rhetoric has contributed to a dangerous belief among some that violence is acceptable & he must set the standard for clearly stating it is not.”
The White House has issued a statement condemning the violence as “despicable,” while promising to hunt down and prosecute “to the fullest extent of the law” the person(s) responsible.
“We condemn the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are investigating and will take all appropriate actions to protect anyone threatened by these cowards.”
I agree wholeheartedly! https://t.co/ndzu0A30vU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2018
This all comes after the Secret Service, in its routine screening process, intercepted packages containing explosives addressed to the respective homes of the Clintons and the Obamas. CNN’s office in Manhattan had to be evacuated on Wednesday as well after the building’s mail room found a similar package containing what turned out to be a pipe bomb. The network is now reporting that package was incorrectly addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, who is a contributor at MSNBC, not CNN.
CNN had reported that another package was intercepted that was intended for the White House itself, but the Secret Service rebutted that reporting.
In a release, the Secret Service emphasized that their standard protective measures had successfully thwarted the mail bombing attempts.
Excerpt from the release as follows:
Late on October 23, 2018, the Secret Service recovered a single package addressed to Former First Lady Hillary Clinton in Westchester County, New York. Early this morning, October 24, 2018, a second package addressed to the residence of Former President Barack Obama was intercepted by Secret Service personnel in Washington, DC.
The packages were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such. Both packages were intercepted prior to being delivered to their intended location. The protectees did not receive the packages nor were they at risk of receiving them.
The Secret Service has initiated a full scope criminal investigation that will leverage all available federal, state, and local resources to determine the source of the packages and identify those responsible.
In a tweet of his own, Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-1) condemned the terroristic acts.
“Deeply troubled by reports of suspicious devices sent to various locations around the country. My prayers are with those impacted and the first responders. Those responsible should be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” Byrne said.
A similar mail-based explosive device was thwarted at the New York home of George Soros on Tuesday.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
