News Roundup

Published for NC Criminal Law on October 26, 2018.

This week several pipe bombs were mailed to political figures and political activists.  A series of similar manila envelopes containing suspected explosives and bearing the return address of former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz were sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, John Brennan, George Soros, and Robert De Niro.  Suspicious packages also were sent to Maxine Waters and Joe Biden.  None of the devices exploded or otherwise injured anyone; the story was developing quickly at the time of writing.  President Donald Trump called the attempted bombings “despicable acts” and said that “threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.”  Trump later made statements suggesting that the news media was to blame for feelings of hostility in the nation.  Keep reading for more news. Political Volunteer Threatened.  The Charlotte Observer reports that on Wednesday a volunteer at a Mecklenburg County polling place was threatened and called a racial slur by a man who appeared to be armed.  Derek Partee, a former detective from New York, was volunteering at the polling place to support state senator Jeff Tarte when he was approached by Jason Donald Wayne and two other people.  Wayne allegedly was openly carrying a weapon in a holster as he referred to Partee using a racial slur and called him a “Black piece of s***” while exposing his holstered weapon.  When Wayne was arrested, he was carrying a holstered BB gun. Patrolman Honored.  The Fayetteville Observer reports, that North [...]