Mail Bomb Sent To George Soros

[Petrasylvania]

Story updated. Looks like the mail bomb was hand delivered and made to look as if it was sent through the postal system.

[Bakery Hill]

At George Soros’s Home, Pipe Bomb Was Likely Hand-Delivered, Officials Say

Federal authorities believe that an explosive device found Monday in a mailbox at the home of George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist who has been a focus of right-wing vitriol and conspiracy theorists, was left there by someone and was not delivered by the Postal Service, several law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Mr. Soros’s home is in a suburb of New York City. The device was constructed from a length of pipe about six inches long filled with explosive powder, and it was “proactively detonated” by bomb squad technicians, according to one of the officials, all of whom were briefed on the investigation.

The motive of the would-be bomber or bombers remained unclear, one of the officials said, adding that there had not yet been any claim of responsibility.

Mr. Soros, who made his fortune in finance and is now a full-time philanthropist and political activist, is often a subject of the ire of right-wing groups. In recent days, some have falsely speculated that he funded a caravan of migrants moving north in Mexico.

Mr. Soros was not home when the device was discovered by a caretaker, another one of the officials said. It was rigged with a detonator, and it could have maimed or possibly killed someone had it exploded near them.

A senior law enforcement official described the pipe bomb as “smaller than what we typically see.”

The investigation is being conducted by the New York offices of the F.B.I. and the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, according to several of the officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

Officers from the police department in the town of Bedford, N.Y., initially responded to the Soros home in the hamlet of Katonah, at about 3:45 p.m. Monday in response to a call from the caretaker about a suspicious package, according to a police department statement. The Westchester County Police Department’s bomb squad was called, as were federal and state investigators.

“The caretaker went out to collect the mail and didn’t make it back to the residence,” a senior law enforcement official said. The device was packed in an envelope that was about 8 by 10 inches and “looked suspicious.” The caretaker “dropped it in the woods on the way back to the residence.”

Another official said investigators had photographed the package before detonating the device. The images have been reviewed by United States postal inspectors, the official said, who concluded that the markings on the envelope were likely intended to make it appear as though the package was sent through the mail, though they believed it was not.

The inspectors, the official said, also interviewed the mail carrier on that route, who did not recall delivering such a package.

Two F.B.I. Joint Terrorism Task Force squads that handle domestic terrorism cases were involved in the investigation, one of the officials said, identifying them as a unit based in the bureau’s office in nearby Rye, N.Y., and another in Manhattan that has several agents trained in investigating explosives.

Agents were examining recordings from surveillance cameras in the area around the Soros home to determine whether they captured images of the person leaving the device in the mailbox, or approaching or leaving, one of the officials said.

Mr. Soros, who was born in Hungary, made his fortune running a hedge fund. He donates frequently to Democratic candidates and progressive causes, and has given at least $18 billion to his Open Society Foundations to promote democracy and human rights around the world.

He became a major political donor in the United States during George W. Bush’s presidency. He spent millions backing John Kerry’s unsuccessful bid to deny Mr. Bush a second term, was an early backer of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and contributed more than $25 million to Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates and causes during the 2016 election cycle.

His activism has made him a villain to conservative groups and the target of anti-Semitic smears. Roseanne Barr called him a Nazi in an infamous tweetstorm.

Though Mr. Soros’s name has become a trigger for a subset of Republicans and conservatives, he has said that his main goal as a political activist was to see a return to bipartisanship.

He has said it was the extremism of the Republican Party that had prompted him to become a major Democratic donor, but also said he was opposed to the extreme left.

“I don’t particularly want to be a Democrat,” he said.

Bedford is about 50 miles north of Manhattan and has been home to many well-to-do city transplants, including Martha Stewart, Glenn Close and Ralph Lauren. Katonah, where Mr. Soros has a home, is known for its cultural offerings, including the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts and the Katonah Museum of Art.

The town is known for its insularity and lack of gossip, which allows for well-known residents to fly under the radar. “They look to Bedford as to being protective of their privacy,” John Stockbridge, Bedford’s historian, said in a phone interview.

Mr. Stockbridge said that the town has largely avoided drama or violent scares. “I’ve been here for 35 years, and I don’t remember any incident like what you’re talking about,” he said.

For all the current talk of the left being violent, I can't recall mail bombs being sent to the Koch Brothers or Sheldon Adelson.

What is your take? Who would have the motive and means to go beyond the typical right-wing demonization of George Soros and try to kill him with a mail bomb?

Soros getting killed would have immediately destroyed the funding of many liberal causes short of Soros planning for a contingency in a will. Woe be if the bomb was sent with that in mind.

Hopefully the mail bomber will be caught and tried, and it would be a surprise if it didn't turn out to be a right-winger or even a MAGAhead.

EDIT: Updated

What? So you don't think this very old very rich man has a will?

[Harelia]

Story updated. Looks like the mail bomb was hand delivered and made to look as if it was sent through the postal system.

Well yea. Sending it through the actual mail would leave a trail to follow.

Although if they actually did do that, the Soros residence could've at least gotten a good laugh out of it with a "Return To Sender" slapped on the front followed by an ATF raid barreling through the sender's door.

[Petrasylvania]

Story updated. Looks like the mail bomb was hand delivered and made to look as if it was sent through the postal system.

Well yea. Sending it through the actual mail would leave a trail to follow.

Although if they actually did do that, the Soros residence could've at least gotten a good laugh out of it with a "Return To Sender" slapped on the front followed by an ATF raid barreling through the sender's door.

Which means unless it's a really unhinged and dedicated case, it's likely a local boy at least.

[Liriena]

Only if they're conservative, silly.

...said the leader of the Kavanaugh lynch mob.

Few things are quite as repulsive as some right-wing rando using the memory of one of the most infamous kinds of right-wing hate crime to defend a rich white douchebro who only faced the threat of not being made a SCOTUS justice.

Your lazy, exploitative metaphor can eat my ass.

[Harelia]

Well yea. Sending it through the actual mail would leave a trail to follow.

Although if they actually did do that, the Soros residence could've at least gotten a good laugh out of it with a "Return To Sender" slapped on the front followed by an ATF raid barreling through the sender's door.

Which means unless it's a really unhinged and dedicated case, it's likely a local boy at least.

I would say that I highly doubt someone from the left or right would travel god knows how far just to drop off a bomb at some codger's doorstep.

But given the sheer levels of conviction I've seen from both sides? I honestly would not be even the slightest bit surprised.

[Harelia]

...said the leader of the Kavanaugh lynch mob.

Few things are quite as repulsive as some right-wing rando using the memory of one of the most infamous kinds of right-wing hate crime to defend a rich white douchebro who only faced the threat of not being made a SCOTUS justice.

Your lazy, exploitative metaphor can eat my ass.

I know your thing says "Left-Wing Utopia" but you need to caaaaaaalm doooooown.

[Xmara]

I barely know anything about Soros, but from what I do know about him, I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone on the alt-right.

[Napkiraly]

...said the leader of the Kavanaugh lynch mob.

Few things are quite as repulsive as some right-wing rando using the memory of one of the most infamous kinds of right-wing hate crime to defend a rich white douchebro who only faced the threat of not being made a SCOTUS justice.

Your lazy, exploitative metaphor can eat my ass.

Lynching isn't a specifically right-wing crime.

[Cedoria]

So what makes Antifa a terrorist organisation?

And no, Chris Christie just saying so doesn't count.

Antifa is a terrorist organization because of how much they harass people they disagree with politically. Sorry, but at the end of a day you can't punch someone just because you suspect them to be a secret member of a defunct 90 year old organization from Germany.

Likewise, you don't run down people and murder them in the streets of an American city when they show up to protest you shouting "Blood and Soil" and "Jews will not replace us".

Yet people who do that are fully endorsed by the President it would seem.

[Cedoria]

"Terrorism" tends to carry implications of extreme acts like outright maiming or murder, say running over libs with a car. Anything short of that is what your side calls SJW bitching.

He ran them over because they had formed a crowd around his car and were pointing (thankfully) fake guns at it. Unfortunately, Heather Heyer was killed during the riot by the car. I believe that her case is one of manslaughter, not murder.

No. The video in question that showed that was edited to make it LOOK like self-defence. The actual footage shows very clearly he deliberately did it, if you care to check it out.

[Cedoria]

He ran them over because they had formed a crowd around his car and were pointing (thankfully) fake guns at it. Unfortunately, Heather Heyer was killed during the riot by the car. I believe that her case is one of manslaughter, not murder.

That's bullshit. He floored it to deliberately run her over. I can't believe you're making excuses for a terrorist.

Honestly why can't you believe it? People who whine about Antifa tend to be pretty... selective about what they consider terrorism.

I might take the complaints a little more seriously if they could work up a little more impartiality in their resentment.

[Loben]

...said the leader of the Kavanaugh lynch mob.

Few things are quite as repulsive as some right-wing rando using the memory of one of the most infamous kinds of right-wing hate crime to defend a rich white douchebro who only faced the threat of not being made a SCOTUS justice.

Your lazy, exploitative metaphor can eat my ass.

i dont eat ass.

[Scomagia]

Few things are quite as repulsive as some right-wing rando using the memory of one of the most infamous kinds of right-wing hate crime to defend a rich white douchebro who only faced the threat of not being made a SCOTUS justice.

Your lazy, exploitative metaphor can eat my ass.

i dont eat ass.

Not even on her birthday? Selfish.

Anyway, they were saying that about your metaphor, not you.

[Petrasylvania]

That's bullshit. He floored it to deliberately run her over. I can't believe you're making excuses for a terrorist.

Honestly why can't you believe it? People who whine about Antifa tend to be pretty... selective about what they consider terrorism.

I might take the complaints a little more seriously if they could work up a little more impartiality in their resentment.

They alternate between abject terror of Antifa's "brutality" and cockily laughing at how Antifa are all pansy soyboy hippies that are easier to knock down than bowling pins. No consistency..

[Petrasylvania]

i dont eat ass.

Not even on her birthday? Selfish.

Anyway, they were saying that about your metaphor, not you.

Oh hey, we found DJ Khaled.

[Loben]

i dont eat ass.

Not even on her birthday? Selfish.

Anyway, they were saying that about your metaphor, not you.

im not tjt.

what kind of america is this where a man cant proudly declare he doesnt eat ass?

[Luminesa]

Not even on her birthday? Selfish.

Anyway, they were saying that about your metaphor, not you.

Oh hey, we found DJ Khaled.

DJ Khaled can’t form sentences, that is definitely not him.

[Luminesa]

...said the leader of the Kavanaugh lynch mob.

Few things are quite as repulsive as some right-wing rando using the memory of one of the most infamous kinds of right-wing hate crime to defend a rich white douchebro who only faced the threat of not being made a SCOTUS justice.

Your lazy, exploitative metaphor can eat my ass.

I don’t think that’s where he was going with it, but you immediately flew into a rage probably just at the name and didn’t bother to think about the rest of the post. He was calling-out Gauth for not being consistent in “innocent until guilty” logic, he wasn’t saying Kavanaugh did or did not do anything wrong. Indeed, both Republicans and Dems should be called-out for exploitative behavior, and that’s what he was getting at.

Really the lazy post is your own, with the fake outrage that’s supposed to make us believe somehow you were personally attacked when TTJ was making a point about consistency. You’ve said in the past you get sensitive when your views are attacked, but you weren’t even attacked. And it wasn’t even a metaphor, it was a comparison, two different concepts. Maybe don’t immediately start seeing red when being told to be consistent over beliefs? I dunno. You can I guess decide if you want that to apply to you, or you can continue to get fake-angry.

[Petrasylvania]

Few things are quite as repulsive as some right-wing rando using the memory of one of the most infamous kinds of right-wing hate crime to defend a rich white douchebro who only faced the threat of not being made a SCOTUS justice.

Your lazy, exploitative metaphor can eat my ass.

I don’t think that’s where he was going with it, but you immediately flew into a rage probably just at the name and didn’t bother to think about the rest of the post. He was calling-out Gauth for not being consistent in “innocent until guilty” logic, he wasn’t saying Kavanaugh did or did not do anything wrong. Indeed, both Republicans and Dems should be called-out for exploitative behavior, and that’s what he was getting at.

Really the lazy post is your own, with the fake outrage that’s supposed to make us believe somehow you were personally attacked when TTJ was making a point about consistency. You’ve said in the past you get sensitive when your views are attacked, but you weren’t even attacked. And it wasn’t even a metaphor, it was a comparison, two different concepts. Maybe don’t immediately start seeing red when being told to be consistent over beliefs? I dunno. You can I guess decide if you want that to apply to you, or you can continue to get fake-angry.

Or rather, she was angry that Kavanaugh's hearing was called a "lynching" as if it was comparable to actual lynching when the worst he faced was not getting confirmed and going back to being a federal judge.

[Kavagrad]

He's a billionaire who donates to political groups, I can only assume the worst from him.

That means the Charlottesville riots were funded by Rupert Murdoch.

I’d buy it.

[Grenartia]

Oh, that's the guy that allegedly pays me to hate Trump and the conservative agenda.

[Dahon]

Innocent until proven guilty.

He's a billionaire who donates to political groups, I can only assume the worst from him.

Assume this stance towards all big-money donors, whether individual or not, and I'll be convinced.

[Kavagrad]

Oh, that's the guy that allegedly pays me to hate Trump and the conservative agenda.

I'm glad he's okay. How else could I afford all these avocados?

[Uxupox]

He's a billionaire who donates to political groups, I can only assume the worst from him.

Assume this stance towards all big-money donors, whether individual or not, and I'll be convinced.

why not just do that? if they are donating money they are doing it for obvious nefarious reasons.