The New York Police Department is investigating a suspicious package addressed to actor Robert De Niro.
A bomb squad has been deployed to the Tribeca area of the city, CNN reported on Thursday.
NBC’s New York affiliate reported that the package was similar to ones sent to prominent Democrats earlier this week and was sent to an address that housed a restaurant owned by De Niro.
The legendary actor has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, receiving a standing ovation for saying “Fuck Trump” while on stage at the Tonys earlier this year.
As many had expected, the President had a few words of his own to offer in retaliation..
In a series of tweets he wrote: “Robert De Niro, a very Low IQ individual, has received to many shots to the head by real boxers in movies. I watched him last night and truly believe he may be “punch-drunk.”
“I guess he doesn’t realize the economy is the best it’s ever been with employment being at an all time high, and many companies pouring back into our country. Wake up Punchy!” [sic]
The latest suspect device is the ninth found since Monday, all addressed to individuals and organisations who have been on the receiving end of Trump’s vitriolic rhetoric.
The others are:
- a package sent to the Time Warner Centre in New York, home of TV news channel CNN, contained a live explosive which police described as a pipe bomb and an envelope containing white powder. The package was addressed to former CIA director John Brennan, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, who is a periodic contributor to the network
- police intercepted suspected explosive devices sent to former US President Barack Obama and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
- in Florida, the building that houses the office of US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a former Democratic Party national chairwoman, was evacuated after a suspicious package arrived in the mail
- police intercepted a package addressed to Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters. The package had been addressed to former Attorney General Eric Holder but the former Democratic Party national chairwoman was listed on the return address
- Democrat Kamala Harris’s San Diego office was evacuated after suspicious packages were found near her building, according to her spokeswoman. The packages were not addressed to Harris or her office
- during a press conference addressing the device mailed to CNN, Democrat New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters that an explosive device had been sent to his office
- the devices are similar to that sent to the billionaire philanthropist and Democrat donor George Soros on Monday
- On Thursday AP sources said a package addressed to former US vice president Joe Biden, which was intercepted at a Delaware mail centre, was similar to those containing bombs.
The bomb packages were sent as the nation prepares for 6 November elections that will decide whether Democrats take control of one or both houses of Congress from Republicans and deny Trump the majority his party now holds in both.
As yet there is no indication of who is behind the attempted attacks and no one has claimed responsibility.