NYPD Says CNN’s Suspicious Package Also Contained ‘White Powder’

“That’s being tested now downstairs,” said FBI special agent in charge Bryan Paarman

CNN NYPD bomb scare
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The New York Police Department said Wednesday that they found an envelope containing “white powder” as part of the original suspicious package sent to the network’s New York headquarters that was found to contain a possible live explosive device.

“Responding officers identified a device that appeared to be a live explosive device,” said NYPD commissioner James O’Neill, during a press conference on Wednesday. “Additionally, there was an envelope containing white powder that was discovered as part of that original packaging, and we’re investigating that now.”

“That’s being tested now downstairs,” said FBI special agent in charge Bryan Paarman.

Less than an hour earlier, CNN reported that the suspicious package that forced an evacuation of its New York headquarters was addressed to former CIA director John Brennan, a frequent Trump critic and MSNBC contributor.

“This suspicious package was in fact addressed to CNN but it was specifically addressed to the former CIA director John Brennan,” CNN’s Wolf Blizter reported on air. “He is a contributor to MSNBC and NBC News, but not CNN.”

New York City’s Time Warner Center, including the offices and studios of CNN, was evacuated on Wednesday after receiving a suspicious package.

Similar suspicious packages were sent to former president Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire financier George Soros earlier this week.

During the news conference, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said a suspicious package was discovered at his Manhattan office earlier on Wednesday.

O’Neill added, “The area has been swept with dogs and equipment and found no additional threats besides the white powder.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said : “We, at this time, do not have other credible and specific threats against locations in New York City.”

When asked if there could be any political motivations behind this, O’Neill simply said: “Take a look at who’s being targeted right now.”

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