A suspicious package has been found at a premises in New York connected to actor Robert De Niro.
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| Hollywood actor Robert De Niro |
The package is believed to have been addressed to the Hollywood actor and delivered to the property on Greenwich Street, which is where the Tribeca Film Centre is, of which he is founder, as well as his Tribeca Grill restaurant.
It was found at 4.45am (7.45pm AEDST) and has since been removed by the New York police bomb squad and taken away for testing.
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| A vehicle, said to be used to transport bombs, carries away the suspicious package delivered to Robert De Niro's New York restaurant. |
De Niro is an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trump, and once called him a "national disaster"
At least seven suspicious parcels were intercepted before reaching any intended recipients, who included former US President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Obama's attorney-general Eric Holder.
Former CIA Director John Brennan, prominent Democratic Party donor George Soros and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, were also targets of packages.
All of the targets are frequently maligned by right-wing critics.
Related :: Pipe bombs sent to Obama, Clintons, CNN
The CNN bureau in New York received a package addressed to Mr Brennan, who has appeared as an on-air CNN analyst, leading police to evacuate the Time Warner building in a busy Manhattan neighbourhood near Central Park.
The package contained an envelope of white powder that experts were analysing, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said.
The bomb threats aggravated tension ahead of November 6 elections that will decide whether Democrats take control of one or both houses of Congress from Republicans and deny Mr Trump the majority his party now holds in both.
None of the packages detonated, and nobody was injured. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
An FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies "will continue to work to identity and arrest whosoever is responsible for sending these packages", FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
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| A picture of what is believed to be a pipe bomb sent to CNN headquarters on Wednesday |
Some leading Democrats were quick to accuse Mr Trump himself of stoking the potential for political violence by frequently engaging in hyper-partisan, vitriolic rhetoric.
Mr Trump told a political rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday his government would conduct "an aggressive investigation".
"Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself," he said. "We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony."
He also said the media had a responsibility "to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories".
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