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CNN Live Today

Mailbox Pipe Bombs Hit Midwest

Aired May 06, 2002 - 10:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: First up this hour, we head to the Midwest, to domestic terrorism, which has landed on the doorstep or at least at the curb. Since Friday, 15 pipe bombs have been found in three different states. Seven of them were planted in mailboxes in rural Nebraska. No one was injured in those cases, but a half dozen people were hurt in the bombs that were clustered along the Iowa- Illinois state line.

Our Rusty Dornin is in Omaha, Nebraska with the latest -- Rusty, good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, you know, rural mail delivery was actually stopped over the weekend in parts of Illinois and Iowa, because of these pipe bomb incidents. It is Monday. The mail will go through today, but the postal carriers here in Nebraska are warning people that they will not deliver any letters, unless they keep their mailboxes propped open, so that the postal carriers can see what's inside.

They will also not be taking any outgoing mail. People will actually have to hand their mail to their mail carriers. This is, of course, to protect both the postal carriers and the individuals who are having their mail either picked up or delivered. Now, of course, folks who haven't opened their mailbox over the weekend, they have warned people to be very careful, showing them how to use fishing poles and fishing line and that sort of thing to open their mailboxes safely, so just in case to be sure none of these explode.

Now, along with many of these devices have been discovered letters. Now, the letters contain a lot of slogans against the government, talking about that this is a form of attention getting. It also says that it seems like killing a single famous person would get the same response as killing numerous unfamous humans. That was signed by someone who cares.

Now, the authorities and the postal service people here are hoping that by letting the public know what's in these letters that it might prop up and be able to catch them like they caught the Unabomber.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES F. BOGNER, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Asking the public, anyone that has information, maybe someone that has read this letter. I know the letter has been posted on various media Web sites, and it will be posted on the FBI's Web sites. And we are hoping that someone will look at that and recognize it and call us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Now, these bombs were delivered, have been delivered from an east going west, sort of following a line of Interstate 80 going through Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. Now, there was some conjecture that this person had actually driven this route maybe overnight and had planted these bombs. I am not sure that they are going in that direction now.

It is a long way. I drove from Cedar Rapids, Iowa here to Omaha yesterday. It is a long way, and to stop at all of these places, it would be very difficult for someone to do overnight.

They are also not saying exactly whether they are looking for one person or persons in connection with these incidents. But FBI here at the regional headquarters in Omaha are working very closely. There are about 50 postal inspectors across the Midwest that are working on this case -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, Rusty, do they give any indication if they are looking at somebody domestically, a fellow American, or somebody from outside the U.S.?

DORNIN: So far, they are calling this a piece of domestic terrorism. And, Daryn, you know, I mean, the Midwest was the place that was really hit by domestic terrorism, of course, with the Oklahoma City bombing. Folks here feel far away from terrorism on the whole, but when it strikes here in the heartland, people feel vulnerable.

Also, you know, hitting someone's -- having a bomb anywhere obviously is very tragic, but when it comes to your home and it is delivered to your home, that's a scary thing. And I think folks are pretty upset about it.

KAGAN: Understandably. Rusty Dornin in Omaha, Nebraska -- we will check back with you.

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