Suspicious Package Sent to Robert De Niro at N.Y.C. Office After Pipe Bombs Mailed to Other Dems
A suspicious package addressed to Robert De Niro in Manhattan was removed by the New York City Police Department bomb squad on Thursday after similar mailers were sent to prominent Democrats across the country this week.
An NYPD rep told PEOPLE that the package was similar to the other suspicious packages and appeared to be from the same sender. A report about the suspicious package was called in at 5:00 a.m. local time, and authorities removed the package via the NYPD bomb truck at 6:30 a.m.
The address where the package was found, 375 Greenwich St., houses De Niro’s production company Tribeca Enterprises and restaurant Tribeca Grill, CNN reported. The package resembled previous packages in its return address, listed as Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and its six stamps with American flags.
The building was empty at the time, NBC News reported.
Update: The package has been removed from the location. Expect a heavy police presence and residual traffic in the area as we continue our investigation with our law enforcement partners. #Tribeca
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) October 25, 2018
Earlier in the week, explosive devices targeted former president Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, businessman George Soros and Rep. Maxine Waters, according to The New York Times.
A device addressed to former CIA director John Brennan was delivered to CNN’s New York headquarters, causing an evacuation. A device addressed to former Attorney General Eric Holder was mailed to Wasserman Schultz.
None of the packages have caused injuries.
Authorities also “responded to a postal facility in New Castle, Delaware, in connection with ongoing bombs investigation,” NBC News tweeted on Thursday. New Castle police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“I just want to tell you that in these times we have to unify,” President Donald Trump said on Wednesday. “We have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.”
De Niro has criticized Trump repeatedly. At the Tony Awards in June, his remarks were bleeped when he said, ‘I’m going to say this, f— Trump,’ which received a standing ovation. “It’s no longer just down with Trump, it’s f— Trump,” he told the audience.
Afterward, Trump tweeted, “Robert De Niro, a very Low IQ individual, has received to many shots to the head by real boxers in movies. I watched him last night and truly believe he may be ‘punch-drunk.’ I guess he doesn’t … realize the economy is the best it’s ever been with employment being at an all time high, and many companies pouring back into our country. Wake up Punchy!:
Days earlier, De Niro told high school students, “Our country is lead by a president who believes he can make up his own truth. And we have a word for that — bulls—.”
“A college education is important, but education without humanity is ignorance,” De Niro said in March at a Fulfillment Fund event. “Look at our president. He made it through [the] University of Pennsylvania, so he was exposed to a quality education, but he’s still an idiot.”
In January, De Niro labeled Trump the “baby-in-chief” at a gala, and in May, he told the Daily Mail that he has banned Trump from his Nobu restaurants.
