NYPD says device sent to governor’s office was not a threat

The New York Police Department said Wednesday that a package sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D-N.Y.) office did not contain an explosive device and was unrelated to various packages containing explosive devices sent to numerous politicians and media outlets this week.

“They are unrelated, it was just a thumb drive with a letter. No details on what was on the thumb drive, but it was unrelated,” an NYPD spokesperson told The Hill. 

A spokesman for Cuomo later said on Twitter that the thumb drive contained files on the right-wing Proud Boys organization. Members of the group were recently arrested after a street fight in New York City.

Cuomo said during a press conference earlier Wednesday afternoon that his office in Manhattan had received a suspicious device similar to those sent to Democratic donor George Soros in New York on Monday, as well as Bill and Hillary Clinton’s residence in suburban New York, the D.C. office of former President Obama and CNN’s offices in Manhattan.

“We wouldn’t be at all surprised if more devices show up. A device has been sent to my office in Manhattan, which we were just informed about, and that device is also being handled,” Cuomo said at the press conference.

Cuomo appeared alongside New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and New York Police Department Commissioner James P. O’Neill to provide an update about a suspicious package that was received at CNN’s offices in New York earlier in the day.

The incident forced the Time Warner Building, which houses CNN, to evacuate. The network later reported that the device mailed to CNN and taken away by a bomb squad unit had been addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan.

{mosads}“A number of devices have been sent. They’re being handled. We wouldn’t be surprised if additional devices are sent, and the device that has been sent to my office has been identified and is being handled as we speak,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo and de Blasio slammed the incidents as terrorism, but vowed to not let such acts intimidate the city. 

“Terrorism only works if you let it work. What they are trying to do is scare us and destabilize us and we will not let that happen…We will not let these terrorist thugs to change the way we live our lives. They fail unless we allow them to win, and we will not allow them to win,” Cuomo said.

“What we saw today was an effort to terrorize. This clearly is an act of terror attempting to undermine our free press and leaders of this country through acts of violence. I want to make very clear that the people of New York City will not be intimidated…We cannot be terrorized if you refuse to allow the terrorists to win,” de Blasio echoed.

Cuomo noted that New York City has faced a number of terrorist threats since the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, adding, “This is New York. This is part of who we are and part of our profile.”

He also noted that “we have the best police force and the best law enforcement agencies on the face of the globe.”

While not placing blame for the devices on the actions or rhetoric of any single individual, Cuomo called for a calming of tension ahead of the November midterm elections. 

“This is a political year, it’s a political season. We are weeks from an election, and that’s obviously in the air and that’s an obvious fact. But we’ve been through many political seasons and we have political differences and that’s actually good for democracy,” he said. 

“What is not good is overheated rhetoric, extremism that pushes people to violence. And at the end of the day, we may have political difference, but this is one country, we’re all Americans, e pluribus unum, out of many one, and keeping the dialogue and debate civil is very, very important.”

-Updated 2:52 p.m.