Don’t Give Them The Red Phone: 8 House Dems get letters, photo of New York recruiting station before bombing
This is coming from The Crypt Blog:
Eight House Democrats were mailed a letter and photo of a Times Square recruiting station in Manhattan before it was bombed this morning, according to House insiders.
UPDATE 2: A senior House aide suggested many more members than the eight Democrats originally beliveved to have received them could have gotten copies and suggested law enforcement officials do not know the full scope of how many missives were actually sent at this time.
The letter did not contain any specific threats against the lawmakers or the site, but the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI are now investigating the matter.
It was unclear which lawmakers received the letters or their party affiliation. The letter was postmarked Feb. 28, a week before the explosion in New York.
The New York Times is reporting that the “improvised explosive device” used in the attack “was ‘roughly similar’ to the devices used in two earlier bombings at foreign consulates in Manhattan in 2005 and 2007.”
UPDATE 1: The letters and pictures went to Democrats representing New York City-based congressional districts, according to House sources. It’s unclear whether Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer received similar letters.
UPDATE 3. Aides to
This from Fox News:
WASHINGTON ” Police are investigating letters that arrived Thursday at Capitol Hill offices containing a photo of the Times Square military recruiting office before it was bombed and including the claim “We Did It.”
The manila envelopes contained a photo of a man standing in front of the recruiting station, according to a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation. The photo was the kind commonly sent as a holiday greeting card.
The message on the card: “Happy New Year, We Did It.”
The envelope also contained a packet of approximately 10 sheets of paper that seemed to be a political manifesto railing against the Iraq war and a booklet. The aide didn’t know what the booklet was.
The letter was sent to at least eight congressional offices, FOX News has learned.
Postal inspectors were at the Capitol investigating the letters alongside Capitol Police, U.S. Postal Inspection Service spokesman Douglas Bem said. He had no details about the letters’ content. A second law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing, confirmed some of their contents as described by the Democratic aide.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of an e-mail from the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to other lawmakers Thursday that reads:
“A few offices on the House side have received a letter today addressed to ‘Members of Congress’ with a picture of a man standing in front of the Times Square recruiting station that was bombed in New York today with the statement ‘We did it.’ He is standing in front of it with his arms spread out and he’s attached his political manifesto.”
Authorities advised the recipients to leave the letters alone and call police, the e-mail says.
The man was thin, white with graying hair, wearing a striped flannel shirt and jeans, according to the Democratic aide.
Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a Capitol Police spokesman, said she had received media calls asking about the letter. She said she had made some initial checks but had not been able to confirm reports of the letter.
The small bomb caused minor damage to the New York military recruiting station before dawn Thursday and police were searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance video pedaling away.
Click here for more on the bicyclist caught on surveillance video.
The blast left a gaping hole in the front window and shattered a glass door, twisting and blackening its metal frame. No one was hurt, but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the device, though unsophisticated, could have caused “injury and even death.”
‘We Did It’ Letters Eyed in NY Bombing
March 7, 2008 - 12:05 AM on March 7th, 2008
Hmmmm Grey haired, flannel shirt, jeans…. Sounds to me like someone’s having a flashback to the 60s. Those Dems have REALLY got to get their constituents to stop dropping acid or at least put down the crack pipe.