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The New York Police Department deployed counterterrorism units at locations affiliated with George Soros' organization one day after an explosive device was discovered in the mailbox of his home in the suburbs of New York. New York.
NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said Tuesday that a unit of armed officers with long-range firearms and explosive detection equipment was patrolling to the outside premises run by Open Society Foundations, the network of aid groups of Mr. Soros and the Upper East Side of the philanthropist, a billionaire and philanthropist. apartment.
"What we have done very cautiously is to make contact with people in the Soros organization," said O'Neill. The NYPD has deployed its Critical Response Command on sites in the city, he said.
An employee of Mr. Soros' home in Westchester County, New York, called police Monday after opening a package in a mailbox and found "an explosive device," according to the Bedford Police Department. A police squad then contained and detonated the device, the police said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Bedford Police are investigating this incident. O'Neill said the New York police were investigating whether other affiliates in New York affiliated with Mr. Soros were targeted.
"We are conducting an investigation in a residence in Bedford, New York, around," the FBI's New York office said in a tweet. "There is no threat to public safety."
Mr Soros, born in Hungary and who fled after the Nazis came to power, sent hundreds of millions of dollars to aid groups, university programs and pro-democracy initiatives. in the country. He has donated more than $ 32 billion to support the Open Society Foundations in more than 100 countries around the world.
In the United States, where Mr. Soros is a major contributor to liberal and democratic causes, he is a lightning rod for the Conservatives. Open Society has supported efforts to reform immigration policies and the criminal justice system, including prisons, and has funded mentoring programs for young black and Latino men. He has supported activists working on issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mr. Soros, who is Jewish, has also been a frequent target of anti-Semitic smears.
"George Soros deplores all forms of violence and calls on politicians from all walks of life to soften their rhetoric," said a spokeswoman for Open Society Foundations. "Words have consequences, and we have a responsibility to create a more civil way of discussing our political differences."
While the nature of the explosive device discovered at Mr. Soros' home is unclear, shelling remains relatively rare in the United States, said Brad Galvan, an explosives expert from the United States. Recently retired ATF, who was running criminal fire and explosive units at the agency 's offices in San Diego and Los Angeles. .
Mr. Galvan said that among the cases he had investigated, it was more common for a bomber to place an explosive device at a given location – a car, a person's sill or any other place where it can be recovered – before actually sending it. The messaging system.
Earlier this year, in March, a serial bomber terrorized Austin, Texas, killing two and injuring several others before blowing up. In that case, the 23-year-old Mark Conditt bomber had used bomb packs left in front of several of his victims' homes, while manipulating a trap-wire to detonate another machine.
A Brooklyn man was arrested earlier this year for allegedly attempting to avenge a police officer in 2017 by laying an explosive packed in a queen's porch that blew up and killed an unsuspecting homeowner. building.
On Tuesday, a dozen officers were spotted outside Mr. Soros' home on the Upper East Side on patrol. Some of the agents were talking to a doorman about the mail delivery schedule.
-Katie Honan and Melissa Korn contributed to this article.
Write to Zolan Kanno-Youngs to [email protected] and Dan Frosch to [email protected]
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