U.S. mail bomber case prompts call for better postal screening

[rooster59]

U.S. mail bomber case prompts call for better postal screening

By Bill Tarrant and Alex Dobuzinskis

 

Cesar Sayoc's van is seen in Boca Raton, Florida, October 18, 2018. ED KENNEDY/via REUTERS

 

(Reuters) - The arrest on Friday of a man accused of mailing at least 14 explosive devices to prominent Democrats and critics of U.S. President Donald Trump has prompted concern about how the U.S. Postal Service screens against deadly deliveries.

 

"We've got to do a better job of screening the mail," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN after Cesar Sayoc, 56, was arrested in Florida. Sayoc was charged with five federal crimes including threats against former presidents and faces up to 48 years in prison if found guilty.

 

The Postal Service does not screen most of the mail, Joe Bellissimo, a retired postal inspector, said in a phone interview from Pittsburgh.

 

"We call it the sanctity of the seal. It's protected under the Constitution," he said. "Unless there is something exigent about that mail, you can't go around scanning everything."

 

The sanctity of the seal, a longstanding principal for the postal service, is intended to protect the privacy of communications.

 

Postal workers use hand-held screening devices to get an image of what's inside suspicious packages, he said.

 

"All of our (Postal Service) employees are trained to see these (suspicious) packages,” said Bellissimo, who now works at the Pittsburgh-based security training firm Inpax.

 

"They're trained to find it, but if you find one it’s almost a lucky event,” Bellissimo said.

 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said it combines specialized technology, screening protocols and employee training to screen for dangerous mail. It also has a forensic laboratory in Dulles, Virginia, according to its website.

 

Authorities believe the packages, which were intercepted before reaching their intended recipients, all went through the U.S. Postal Service at some point, a source said. None detonated and no one has been hurt.

 

The U.S. Postal Service declined to comment.

 

MAIL BOMBS RARE

 

But mail bombs are rare, the inspection service said on its website. The service investigates 16 mail bombs a year on average, while processing 170 billion pieces of mail.

 

The Postal Inspection Service said its teams nationwide have portable X-ray machines but declined to provide more details about its methods for security reasons.

 

The packages sent to the Democratic leaders bore many of the hallmarks the postal service warns can indicate bombs, such as excessive postage, wrong addresses and irregularly shaped parcels with bulges.

 

In the latest spree, the FBI released pictures showing tape-sealed, lumpy manila envelopes with at least six first-class postage stamps and computer-printed address labels taped to the package.

 

Errors in some of the labelling led to at least one of the packages being returned to the false "sender" address listed on several of them - the South Florida office of U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who formerly chaired the Democratic National Committee.

 

The packages sent to former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Joseph Biden were intercepted by the U.S. Secret Service, which provides an extra layer of mail screening for former elected officials.

 

The Postal Inspection Service, which investigates mail crimes, created a Dangerous Mail Investigations agency following the anthrax mailings of 2001 that killed five people and sickened 17.

 

The postal service installed biological detection systems in its offices following those attacks, conducting more than 7 million tests since then, with "not one positive or false positive result,", the inspection service website says.

 

Saying its members were concerned for their safety, the union that represents postal workers noted that more devices could still be in the mail stream and said the postal service was scheduling nationwide safety talks on dealing with suspicious packages.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-27

[malibukid]

required DL or Passport when mailing in the U.S.

[DM07]

That would be one solution!

ooooor...the right wing could pump the breaks on attacking their political opponents, in a way, that might get the dumbest riled up so much, that they shoot up pizza- places and send pipe bombs!

And: no- shouting someone out of a restaurant is NOT the same thing, as attempted murder!

[Srinivas]

they could have atleast voided the stamps.????

[Guitar God]

More mail screening and less hate speech from the mango Mussolini. 

[Guitar God]

[Srinivas]

and then call him Mussolini lol 

trump is quite patient  considering all that has been throw at him since announcing campaign. this is just getting started,imo.

 

[Tug]

Less hate and a change to competent leadership

[Scott]

10 hours ago, Srinivas said:

they could have atleast voided the stamps.????

The packages would not go through the machine that voids them:

 

In fact, the U.S. Postal Service's own website says postmarks aren't required in all cases.

"Postmarks are not required for mailings bearing a permit, meter, or precanceled stamp for postage, nor to pieces with an indicia applied by various postage evidencing systems," the USPS says on this page. 

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Mail-Bomb-Stamps-Cancelled-Explainer-498665661.html

 

[wayned]

9 hours ago, Srinivas said:

and then call him Mussolini lol 

trump is quite patient  considering all that has been throw at him since announcing campaign. this is just getting started,imo.

 

Right, there has just been another mass shooting where 11 were killed with an assault rifle at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and the first thing he did was protect the NRA by stating that it probably wouldn't have happened if they had armed guards.  He then refused suggestions from his staff to cancel tonight's rally in Illinois and is going ahead with it saying that he couldn't disappoint all of those people.  Absolutely no empathy for anything or anybody.

 

And the only safe places that don't have armed guards in any city is the donut shops

[habanero]

16 hours ago, malibukid said:

required DL or Passport when mailing in the U.S.

People complain about using an ID to vote and you want them to use one to mail a package? You're very comical.

[mtls2005]

16 hours ago, malibukid said:

required DL or Passport when mailing in the U.S.

 

Obviously not everyone has a DL or passport.

 

I can see the TSA mission-creeping into post office access?

 

15 hours ago, Srinivas said:

they could have atleast voided the stamps.????

 

It's not unusual for some items to transit the post office system sans postmark - heck, my dad used love steaming off uncancelled stamps for re-use (he was Depression-era).

 

And oddly shaped packages cannot go through automated channels, so may not be manually stamped.

 

All that said, I can't figure out why false-flag promotors (not you) seem so intent on this aspect? I mean wouldn't the "deep-state" know that this minor detail should be attended to?

[Srinivas]

8 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Obviously not everyone has a DL or passport.

 

I can see the TSA mission-creeping into post office access?

 

 

It's not unusual for some items to transit the post office system sans postmark - heck, my dad used love steaming off uncancelled stamps for re-use (he was Depression-era).

 

And oddly shaped packages cannot go through automated channels, so may not be manually stamped.

 

All that said, I can't figure out why false-flag promotors (not you) seem so intent on this aspect? I mean wouldn't the "deep-state" know that this minor detail should be attended to?

I was being cheeky with that comment but this concern with postal screening is just a diversion imo. Gov cannot be expected to prevent everyone of these sort of nutty things unless we are advocating for a full ever growing warm and fuzzy surveillance police state. unfortunately this seems to be the preference for big gov and big tech corpe for every event. crime prevention pays well.

more laws, more surveillance, more gov, more,more till we reach utopia.????

 

 

 

 

[Small Joke]

Yes. turn the entire world into one big paranoid airport screening party. one half can be the goons, then we all swap places, on July 4 for a new year： shoes off, belts off, fluids in little beetch bags, touchy feely search, but whatever you do dont take away our Armalites, not sure how that would work exactly, but hey.

[Patriot1066]

2 hours ago, Small Joke said:

Yes. turn the entire world into one big paranoid airport screening party. one half can be the goons, then we all swap places, on July 4 for a new year： shoes off, belts off, fluids in little beetch bags, touchy feely search, but whatever you do dont take away our Armalites, not sure how that would work exactly, but hey.

 

2 hours ago, Small Joke said:

Yes. turn the entire world into one big paranoid airport screening party. one half can be the goons, then we all swap places, on July 4 for a new year： shoes off, belts off, fluids in little beetch bags, touchy feely search, but whatever you do dont take away our Armalites, not sure how that would work exactly, but hey.

Very difficult to stop these lone attackers if you change the postal services they will find a gap. The terrorist win when you totally change your way of life to stop them, in London we seem to get lots of knife attacks as virtually no one can have guns. The murder rate is actually higher than before they banned guns. And yes we were allowed semi auto before they were banned. Why would the guy post pipe bombs with timers and not with other firing mechanis, plus it would be obvious that mail would be pre scanned before it gets to ex presidents, it doesn't makes sense at all. Perhapse it is not so fantastical and those suggesting shouldn't be derided, to suggest a false flag is possible, he was very overt with his van and internet posts, but no criminal record at all and little past history?

[Patriot1066]

On 10/27/2018 at 12:39 PM, Srinivas said:

and then call him Mussolini lol 

trump is quite patient  considering all that has been throw at him since announcing campaign. this is just getting started,imo.

 

Yes mr Trump has been very patient and statesman like. There seems little correlation between him an Mussolini? Mussolini did a deal with another foreign power the Nazi Germany who were more powerfull than him Trump is much more powerfull on the world stage. Considering how biased the press, social media companies and establishment appear to be against him and his supporters he is a model of calm and composure. However, there are large risks with the language used now in politics such as by people like Robert De Nero they poke the hornets nest and unfortunately some will fly out and do srupid things.

I don't think the postal service could be held responsible though or have stopped it as they can't scan everything it would be too costly. And with the volume of post some items will slip through no matter what they did.