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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 24 OctOber 2018

Bomb found at philanthropist

George Soros' suburban

home

By JIM MUSTIAN involved in an investiga-
Associated Press tion but declined to com-
NEW YORK (AP) — A bomb ment. The New York Police
was found in a mailbox at Department said that as a
the suburban New York precaution, it was sending
home of George Soros, counterterrorism officers to
the liberal billionaire phi- all Soros-connected sites in
lanthropist who has been the city.
denounced by President Federal investigators were
Donald Trump and vilified reviewing surveillance vid-
by right-wing conspiracy eo to determine whether
theorists, authorities said the package containing
Tuesday. the bomb had been sent
Federal agents safely deto- through the mail or deliv-
nated the device after be- ered some other way, of-
ing summoned Monday ficials said. They said it was
by a security officer at the unclear if the parcel was
sprawling, wooded com- addressed to Soros.
pound, about 50 miles (80 A federal law enforcement
kilometers) north of Man- official who spoke to The
hattan. It was not clear Associated Press on condi-
whether the 88-year-old So- tion of anonymity because
ros was home at the time. he was not authorized to
Laura Silber, a spokeswom- discuss the investigation
an for Soros' Open Society said the device contained In this May 29, 2018, file photo, philanthropist George Soros, founder and chairman of the Open
Foundations, blamed the explosive powder. Society Foundations, attends the European Council On Foreign Relations Annual Meeting in Paris.
country's toxic political en- Another federal official Associated Press
vironment. who also spoke on condi-
In recent days and weeks, tion of anonymity said it re- pression. mentators, who have ac- tracked, speculating that
Soros has been accused sembled a pipe bomb and "Soros is seen as the cused him of waging war drug cartels were to blame.
of being the hidden hand was in a package placed boogeyman on just about against capitalism and Trump himself tweeted the
behind some of the oppo- in a mailbox outside the every right-wing conspir- having a secret agenda to suggestion that "Soros and
sition to Brett Kavanaugh's gates of the compound. acy theory floating out destabilize the U.S. govern- others" were behind the
Supreme Court nomination A Soros employee opened there," said J.J. MacNab, a ment. "rude elevator screamers"
and helping to create the it just inside the gates, no- domestic extremism expert As a child in Hungary dur- and activists with "profes-
caravan of Central Ameri- where near Soros' quarters, at George Washington Uni- ing World War II, Soros had sionally made identical
cans making their way to- the official said. versity. "The sheer volume to hide his Jewish roots, but signs" who protested in
ward the U.S. Silber would not comment of chatter makes it prob- he is frequently falsely ac- Washington during Kava-
"The hateful rhetoric that on Soros' whereabouts at able that someone acted cused of collaborating with naugh's confirmation hear-
dominates politics in the the time. on key figures, mainstream Nazis. ings.
U.S. and in so many coun- Soros, a Hungarian immi- figures, pointing the fin- Soros has repeatedly de- Activists frequently post the
tries around the world grant to the U.S. who made ger at him. Usually this stuff nied such allegations. addresses of Soros' homes
breeds extremism and vio- his fortune in hedge funds, would just float around on Most recently, Republican on social media, some-
lence," Silber said in a state- frequently donates to liber- the Internet, but in today's Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida times along with threats.
ment. "In this climate of al causes and has pledged climate it's mainstream, speculated on Twitter that Silber said Soros is calling
fear, falsehoods and rising to invest a half-billion dol- where you have elected Soros was paying Central on politicians across the
authoritarianism, just voic- lars to programs that help officials spouting conspira- American women and chil- political spectrum to "tone
ing your views can draw people who flee their home cy theories." dren to join the group of mi- down their rhetoric."
death threats." countries because of civil Soros has been a favorite grants headed toward the "Words have consequenc-
The FBI confirmed it was war, poverty or political op- target conservative com- U.S., though he later back- es," she said.q