COLUMNS

When Terrorism Isn't Intended to Kill

undefined and VP of Tactical Analysis
Scott Stewart
VP of Tactical Analysis, Stratfor

Oct 30, 2018 | 09:00 GMT

The bomb squad of the Broward County Sheriff's Office uses a robotic vehicle to investigate a suspicious package at the building housing an office for U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) in Sunrise, Florida, on Oct. 24, 2018.

The bomb squad of the Broward County Sheriff's Office uses a robotic vehicle to investigate a suspicious package at the building housing an office for U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) in Sunrise, Florida, on Oct. 24, 2018. A number of suspicious packages have been sent in the mail to former President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and the New York office of CNN.

(JOE RAEDLE/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • The person who sent a recent series of bombs through the mail to top Democrats and others in the United States did not design the devices to explode.
  • The inclusion of bombmaking components, shrapnel and white powder in the packages suggests that the perpetrator was attempting to scare and intimidate rather than kill.
  • Nevertheless, the packages contained all the elements of a "destructive device" under U.S. law, meaning the sender is likely to receive lengthy prison sentences for the offenses.

On Oct. 26, law enforcement officers arrested a 56-year-old Florida resident in connection with a series of mail bombs that were sent to prominent Democratic politicians and liberal figures, including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The suspect (whom we will purposefully not name here) has a long criminal history, including a 2002 conviction for threatening to bomb Florida Power & Light, an electric utility company. His social media accounts contained a great deal of disturbing and even threatening material directed against the media, Democratic politicians, moderate Republican politicians, celebrities and high-profile liberal figures such as George Soros....

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