Another Suspicious Package Addressed to CNN Intercepted in Atlanta: Reports

Jack Phillips
10/29/2018
Updated:
10/29/2018

A suspicious package was reportedly mailed to CNN’s office in Atlanta and intercepted on Oct. 29, the network stated.

“This morning, another suspicious package addressed to CNN was intercepted at an Atlanta post office. There is no imminent danger to the CNN Center. All mail, at all CNN domestic bureaus, is being screened at off-site facilities as of last Wednesday, so this package would NOT have come directly to the CNN Center, even if it hadn’t been intercepted first,” CNN President Jeff Zucker wrote in a statement.

He added, “Our screening process is working and we will keep you updated as we learn more.”

One of the suspicious packages, with the name and address blanked out. As of oct. 29, 2018, 10 of these packages, which reportedly contain explosive devices, have been discovered. (FBI)
One of the suspicious packages, with the name and address blanked out. As of oct. 29, 2018, 10 of these packages, which reportedly contain explosive devices, have been discovered. (FBI)
Fox News reported that the incident prompted an evacuation while CNN’s Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto were on the air.
The FBI said that the bomb squad is responding to the package found on Pryor Street in downtown Atlanta. “We were notified by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. No other details at this point,” the agency stated to Fox.

Cesar Sayoc, 56, is slated to appear in court on Oct. 29. He’s accused of sending more than a dozen packages to George Soros, Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), and others. CNN was already sent a suspicious package.

None of the bomb-like devices mailed in the packages detonated.

“Though we are still analyzing the devices in our laboratories, these are not hoax devices,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a press conference last Friday.

According to his cousin, Sayoc had worked in a strip club as a dancer and bouncer.

Cesar Sayoc in an undated booking photo in Miami, Fla. Federal authorities took Sayoc, 56, of Aventura, Fla., into custody Oct. 26, 2018, in Florida in connection with a nationwide mail-bomb scare. (Broward County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Cesar Sayoc in an undated booking photo in Miami, Fla. Federal authorities took Sayoc, 56, of Aventura, Fla., into custody Oct. 26, 2018, in Florida in connection with a nationwide mail-bomb scare. (Broward County Sheriff's Office via AP)
“He’s always been a little bit of a loose cannon. He’s always been a lost soul,” the cousin told NBC News. “Too many steroids in his day. That stuff will melt your brain.”
A Twitter account that he reportedly used features a number of rambling, incoherent tweets and threats. “It a big celebration Georg Clooney crashes and should have died. We almost had a super celebration prays answer Hollywood slime of century died. His time coming awesome,” reads one tweet on July 10.

President Donald Trump on Oct. 26. praised law enforcement efforts to capture the suspect.

“We’ve carried out a far-reaching federal, state and local investigation to find the person or persons responsible for these events. These terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country,” Trump said, according to a video of his remarks at the White House on Oct. 26. Trump said officials would prosecute the suspect to the “fullest extent of the law.”

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
twitter
Related Topics