US arrests suspect over pipe bombs

The US government yesterday announced a suspect had been arrested in connection with 12 suspicious packages and pipe bombs sent to critics of Donald Trump in a dayslong spree that has inflamed the United States ahead of key midterm elections. A Department of Justice spokeswoman announced the arrest yesterday morning, saying a news conference would be held at 2:30 pm (1830 GMT).

US media said the suspect was taken into custody in Florida, where a huge nationwide manhunt mobilizing hundreds of agents, had reportedly concentrated in recent hours. Since Monday homemade bombs and other suspected explosive devices have been addressed to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood megastar Robert De Niro and a litany of figures loathed by the US president’s supporters.

Early yesterday, an 11th package to Cory Booker, a New Jersey senator often touted as a Democratic presidential hope, was intercepted in Florida, the FBI confirmed. A 12th package, identified by police as a pipe bomb similar to others found across the country, was found at a US Post Office in Manhattan and the bomb squad were dispatched, New York police said. James Clapper, among a string of former intelligence chiefs critical of Trump, was the addressee of the 12th package, sent care of CNN.

On Wednesday, the news network evacuated its New York bureau after a similar package was found in the mail room addressed to another frequent CNN guest, former CIA director John Brennan. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have branded the packages -- intercepted in New York, Maryland, Florida, Delaware and Los Angeles -- domestic terrorism, but Trump has come under fire for his response.

“Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this ‘Bomb’ stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows - news not talking politics,” Trump tweeted Friday in remarks bound to enrage his opponents.