Package found at Robert De Niro’s office in NYC matches other suspicious packages

Oct. 25, 2018 / 10:49 AM GMT / Updated 12:14 PM GMT

By Jonathan Dienst, Adam Edelman and Elisha Fieldstadt

A suspicious package found Thursday at the building housing Robert De Niro’s office in downtown Manhattan and another addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden discovered in Delaware are similar to the pipe bombs found a day earlier sent to political and media figures, according to law enforcement officials.

The package addressed to Biden was discovered at a postal facility in New Castle, Delaware, officials said. They suspected Wednesday that the package was somewhere within the postal system.

A building worker in New York called authorities around 4 a.m. about the package addressed to De Niro, an official said. The employee called because after seeing news reports about other pipe bombs, he remembered seeing the suspicious package a day or two earlier, the official said.

That package was found at 375 Greenwich Street, the site of the restaurant Tribeca Grill, which De Niro co-owns, and the offices of De Niro’s film and television production company, Tribeca Productions. There was no need to evacuate because the building was empty, police said.

The package was removed, the New York Police Department said, warning there would be a heavy police presence in the neighborhood as the morning commute began.

The package was addressed to De Niro, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, a law enforcement official said, noting that the envelope is similar to the ones found Wednesday, including a return address that belonged to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.

Reports of the latest package come after bombs were sent to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Attorney General Eric Holder and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. The device sent to Brennan was addressed to the CNN offices in New York City, which led to an hours-long evacuation of the building. A similar device was also found in billionaire investor George Soros’ mailbox Monday.

The FBI has sent those devices to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.