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When Terrorism Isn't Intended to Kill
![undefined and VP of Tactical Analysis](https://www.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/profiles/photos/Scott-Stewart.jpg)
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.](https://worldview.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/styles/2x1_full/public/Threat-terror-display.jpg?itok=jmuY2sGE)
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.
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