Explosive Device Found at NY Home of George Soros

Billionaire is a target of right-wing groups
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 23, 2018 3:51 AM CDT
Explosive Device Found at NY Home of George Soros
In this May 29, 2018 photo, philanthropist George Soros attends the European Council On Foreign Relations Annual Meeting in Paris.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

Police say a suspected letter bomb was found Monday in a mailbox at a New York state home owned by billionaire George Soros—a frequent target of right-wing groups. Officials tell the New York Times that the device was "proactively detonated" by the bomb squad after an employee found it at the home in Bedford, Westchester County. "An employee of the residence opened the package, revealing what appeared to be an explosive device," police said in a statement. "The employee placed the package in a wooded area and called the Bedford police." Soros, a major donor to liberal causes and the focus of numerous conspiracy theories, was not home at the time.

The FBI's New York field office said in a statement that it is "conducting an investigation at and around a residence in Bedford, NY. There is no threat to public safety, and we have no further comment at this time." Authorities have not disclosed whether the device would have exploded on its own, the AP reports. Soros, 88, has donated billions to groups including the Democratic Party and conspiracy theorists accuse of him orchestrating events including last year's violence in Charlottesville, the BBC reports. Right-wing groups have been known to share his addresses on social media. (An ally of President Trump recently claimed that Soros was funding a caravan of migrants making its way to the US border.)

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