Despite what he suggested in a recent press conference, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was not the most recent target of domestic terrorism in the form of a suspicious package this week. Nine people have been targeted so far, the last two being actor Robert De Niro and former Vice President Joe Biden.
A package was sent to Cuomo's Manhattan office, but it was benign. In the packet was a letter and a flash drive containing information about the far-right group The Proud Boys. Before Cuomo even knew what the contents were, he announced to reporters that authorities had intercepted a "device" in his office, suggesting he had been the latest target of a mailed explosive.
The NYPD quickly corrected him.
The earlier suspicious package at Governor Cuomo’s office in midtown has been cleared by NYPD personnel. It was unrelated. And there was no device of any kind
— J. Peter Donald (@JPeterDonald) October 24, 2018
NEW: This is the package sent to @NYGovCuomo office containing a thumb drive which has information about the Proud Boys, a right wing group invited to speak in Manhattan earlier this month by the Metropolitan Republican Club. It is NOT an explosive device. pic.twitter.com/RKgsGzcg2t
— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) October 24, 2018
Still, the governor rightfully took action.
"Out of an abundance of caution, I am deploying 100 additional National Guard soldiers and directing State law enforcement to double security at vital assets across New York," he said.
On CNN Thursday morning, Cuomo predicted there will be more. Yet, he noted that that would work against the culprit, because he or she will be leaving yet more fingerprints.
"The more packages they send, the more likely we'll find them," Cuomo said.
The other pipe bombs have so far been sent to former President Obama, Hillary Clinton, liberal billionaire George Soros, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and the CNN offices.
The common denominator? All of the targets are outspoken critics of President Trump. In an interview with his little brother Chris Cuomo on CNN Wednesday night, the governor suggested Trump is not doing enough to stop the violence.
.@NYGovCuomo tells his brother, @chriscuomo, a new word may be needed to describe today's events:
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) October 25, 2018
"This is red versus blue terrorism... That we have never seen before. I think this President certainly missed an opportunity... He could have really stepped up and been the leader" pic.twitter.com/5jgZKYedTc
Others are outright blaming Trump and his fiery rhetoric against the media is to blame for this bout of domestic terrorism.
Thankfully, the Secret Service has been able to obtain all of the dangerous mail before anyone was harmed.