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Biden spoke from the Rose Garden Thursday morning, announcing new gun control measures that target ghost guns, red flag laws, pistol-stabilizing braces, and other issues.

He said he wants Congress to do more than offer “thoughts and prayers” to the victims of gun violence.

“They’ve offered plenty of thoughts and prayers, members of Congress,” Biden said, “But they’ve passed not a single new federal law to reduce gun violence. Enough prayers, time for some action.”

Because substantial changes to gun laws have always met fierce Republican resistance in Congress, Biden said he asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to prioritize gun violence and help him with concrete actions the president could take without Congress.

President Joe Biden speaks during an event on the American Rescue Plan in the Rose Garden of the White House on March 12, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Biden first spoke of regulating ghost guns, which are homemade firearms that often lack serial numbers authorities would use to trace them. They’ve increasingly turned up at crime scenes, and federal agents have found them in undercover purchases from gang members and other criminals.

There’s no federal requirement for ghost gun buyers to undergo a background check, but Biden’s actions would change that.

Biden said he’ll also tighten regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces. The president said the brace makes the pistol more lethal and “a hell of a lot more accurate.” He wants to designate pistols with the brace as short-barreled rifles, which would require owners to have a federal license.

The braces came under scrutiny last month after a gunman allegedly used a braced pistol to kill 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.

RELATED: Boulder King Soopers shooting: 21-year-old man to be charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder

That shooting, along with shootings at three Atlanta-area spas that left eight dead plunged the U.S. back into a gun debate that has dominated American politics for years.

Part of Biden’s action asks Congress to pass an appropriate national red flag law that would allow family members or law enforcement to petition for a court order temporarily barring people in crisis from accessing firearms if they present a danger to themselves or others.

And he hopes Congress will incentivize states to pass similar laws. Biden praised the House for passing bills that would close loopholes in America’s gun legislation.

The gun show loophole allows buyers to purchase a gun from a gun show, where background checks aren’t required. The Charleston loophole allows guns to be purchased if the FBI hasn’t completed a background check within three business days. And the boyfriend loophole allows physically abusive ex-boyfriends and stalkers with previous convictions to maintain access to firearms.

Democrats control both chambers of Congress, but the slim Senate advantage likely wouldn’t be enough to pass the bills that would end the loopholes.

Republicans are expected to oppose many, if not all, of Biden’s measures. The party has positioned itself as defender of the Second Amendment and tried to paint the opposition as gun confiscators. Before he went into his plans, Biden dismissed the notion that his measures were a threat to the Second Amendment — calling it a “phony argument.”

While enhanced background checks are generally popular with the American public — even with some conservatives — Congress has so far not been able to find compromise on gun control as a whole, thus the president’s reliance on executive action.

“Universal background checks are supported by the vast majority of American people — and I might add the majority of responsible gun owners,” Biden said. “Let me be clear: This is not a partisan issue among the American people. This is a view by the American people as an American issue. And I’m willing to work with anyone to get these done.”

But of all the ideas Biden presented, the removal of gun manufacturers’ immunity to lawsuits sits closes to his heart, he said.

“If I get one thing on my list, the Lord came down and said ‘Joe, you get one of these,’ give me that one,” Biden said. “Because I tell you what: There would be a come to the Lord moment these folks would have real quickly.”

RELATED: House passes bill to expand background checks for gun sales

Thursday’s news conference also served as an introduction of David Chipman, Biden’s nominee to direct the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Chipman is a former federal agent and adviser to the gun-control group Giffords. He spent 25 years with ATF where he worked to stop a trafficking ring that sent illegal guns from Virginia to New York.

Gun-control advocates have long stressed how crucial the director of the ATF is in enforcing gun laws. John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, lauded Chipman as an “invaluable point person” in the fight against illegal gun trafficking.

Feinblatt also applauded Biden for his upcoming gun control measures.

“Each of these executive actions will start to address the epidemic of gun violence that has raged throughout the pandemic, and begin to make good on President Biden’s promise to be the strongest gun safety president in history,” Feinblatt said.

This story was reported from Atlanta. The Associated Press contributed.

Source: https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/enough-prayers-time-for-some-action-biden-introduces-executive-orders-on-gun-control

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President Biden on Thursday announced a set of executive actions and legislative proposals on gun control, saying that gun violence is “a public health crisis” and the administration’s actions do not contravene Second Amendment rights.

The administration aims to “confront not just the gun crisis but what is actually a public health crisis,” Biden said in his remarks in the Rose Garden. He was joined by Vice President Harris.

“Nothing I’m about to recommend in any way impinges on the Second Amendment,” Biden said. “These are phony arguments suggesting that these are Second Amendment rights at stake from what we’re talking about.”

Continuing, Biden said: “But no amendment to the Constitution is absolute … From the very beginning, you couldn’t own any weapon you wanted to own. From the very beginning the Second Amendment existed, certain people weren’t allowed to have weapons. So the idea is just bizarre to suggest that some of the things we’re recommending are contrary to the Constitution.”

BIDEN TO TARGET ‘GHOST GUNS,’ STABILIZING BRACES IN NEW GUN CONTROL ACTIONS

In attendance were several high-profile gun control activists, including Brady United president Kris Brown, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., and Fred Guttenberg.

An administration official detailed the actions to reporters on Wednesday. Among them, Biden is asking the Justice Department (DOJ) to propose within a month a rule to stop “ghost guns,” which are “kits” people can buy legally to assemble a functioning firearm that does not have a serial number.

Biden is also asking the DOJ to propose within 60 days a rule on braces used for handguns, which make them more accurate; to propose action on “community violence intervention”; to publish suggestions for “red flag” legislation; and is asking his administration to issue a report on gun trafficking.

Biden also formally announced David Chipman as the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

A senior administration official Wednesday said that Chipman will respect the Second Amendment while he enforces gun laws.

President Joe Biden speaks about the economy in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“I’ve seen with my own two eyes what a bullet can do to the human body … and I’ve fought my entire career to fight this violence and to pass reasonable gun safety measures,” Harris said as she introduced Biden.

“What are we waiting for? Cause we aren’t waiting for a tragedy… We’ve had more tragedy than we can bear,” she said. “The solutions exist… people on both sides of the aisle want action, real people … so all that is left is the will and the courage to act.”

The Biden administration is also expected to throw its weight behind gun control proposals in Congress.

“Enough prayers, time for some action,” Biden said of Congress. “I believe the Senate should immediately pass three House-passed bills to close loopholes that allow gun purchases, purchasers, to bypass the background checks.”

BIDEN ON THE SECOND AMENDMENT: ‘NO AMENDMENT IS ABSOLUTE’

He also pushed for two gun control laws that would go even further than that.

“We should also ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country,” Biden said. He said “there’s no reason” a person would need a weapon that can hold “100 rounds.”

“We should also eliminate gun manufacturers from the immunity they receive from the Congress,” Biden said, referring to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a law that prevents gunmakers from being sued for crimes committed with guns they sell legally.

“This is the only outfit that is exempt from being sued,” he continued. “If I get one thing on my list… give me that one because I tell you what there would be a come to the Lord moment these folks would have real quickly.”

Vice President Harris meets virtually with community leaders on the COVID-19 public education efforts in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 1, 2021. (Leigh Vogel/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Some of Biden’s claims during the press conference are regularly disputed by Republicans, including that gun manufacturers can’t be sued and that background checks aren’t required at gun shows.

Indeed, the PLCAA only protects against suits for “harm solely caused by the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearm products or ammunition products.” This does not count, for example, if a gun is defective or if a gun was knowingly given to a person who is banned from possessing one.

BIDEN TO NOMINATE GUN CONTROL BACKER DAVID CHIPMAN TO HEAD ATF: WH OFFICIAL

Further, the “gun show loophole,” as it is known, is not actually about gun shows. All federally licensed commercial dealers, at gun shows or not, must conduct background checks. But federal law permits some non-commercial sellers who don’t need to be licensed to sell guns without conducting background checks. These sales sometimes happen at gun shows.

Republicans, meanwhile, have expressed their suspicion of Biden’s agenda which goes even further than what he announced Thursday.

“By appointing the anti-gun Merrick Garland as attorney general and nominating David Chipman — formerly a senior staffer at the leading gun control lobby —  to head ATF, Biden has made clear his sights are set on restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners while ignoring criminals and foregoing substantive measures that will actually keep Americans safe,” the National Rifle Association (NRA) said in a statement.

“Further, the proposals Biden announced tonight could require law-abiding citizens to surrender lawful property and enable states to expand gun confiscation orders. The NRA will fight this nomination and ill-conceived executive actions,” the NRA also said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., added: “President Biden plans to announce his attempts to trample over our constitutional 2A rights by executive fiat. He is soft on crime, but infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens. I won’t stand for it. And neither will House Republicans. Follow the Constitution!”

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said, “The answer is not to restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, the answer is to go after violent criminals and come down on them like a ton of bricks.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland also spoke at the event. He said that gun control is needed to prevent further “tragedy” from gun violence.

“We stand here today not at a moment of tragedy but in the midst of an enduring tragedy,” Garland said.

Brady United, one of the highest-profile gun control groups in the U.S., billed Biden and Harris as “the strongest gun safety ticket in history” at an event last fall.

“President Biden’s actions are historic and they will have an immediate impact. These are tangible and powerful policies that will save lives,” Brown said of the president’s executive actions in a statement Wednesday.

Fox News’ Brittany De Lea, Sally Persons and Kristina Biddle contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-guns-remarks-executive-actions

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The suspect behind the Christmas Day bombing in downtown Nashville has been identified as 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner, authorities confirmed during a press conference Sunday.

Police said Warner owned the RV that exploded in downtown Nashville early Friday, and that he died in the blast.

NASHVILLE COPS DETAIL LIFE-SAVING MOMENTS BEFORE EXPLOSION: ‘CHRISTMAS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME FOR US’ 

Human tissue was found amongst the debris left behind by the explosion, and DNA examinations of tissue samples by The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and FBI were found to be consistent with Warner. In addition, the Tennessee Highway Patrol uncovered a vehicle identification number from the remains of the RV, which revealed it was registered to Warner.

A law enforcement member walks past damage from an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Dec. 25, 2020. Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard early Christmas morning. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Authorities said that, while they are still following leads, there is “no indication” that any other people were involved.

Police added that a motive for the bombing remains unknown and that officials are looking to speak with anyone familiar with Warner’s ideologies. Police are interviewing individuals identified to have been known by Warner and are still processing evidence from the scene.

In addition, police stressed that Nashville is “considered safe” and that there are “no known threats against the city”. However, a curfew will be in place in the area of the blast while the investigation continues.

NASHVILLE EXPLOSION: TENNESSEE GOVERNOR ASKS TRUMP FOR FEDERAL DISASTER RELIEF AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY BOMBING 

Warner was believed to have lived at a home in Antioch, Tennessee. The FBI and several other law enforcement agencies searched the home for several hours on Saturday. The home address on Google Earth shows the same RV parked in different places on the property dating back several years.

An RV played warning messages and music before it detonated around 6:30 a.m. Christmas Day in Nashville. (Metro Nashville Police)

Separately, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press that federal investigators have started examining Warner’s digital footprint and financial history. They are also examining a recent deed transfer of a home in suburban Nashville. Warner had experience with electronics and alarms, according to public records.

Police said the RV sounded warnings to evacuate and a 15-minute countdown to clear the area. The voice of the woman on the recording is believed to be a robotic, computerized voice, the sources said.

The RV also blasted a song before it detonated, which was identified by law enforcement as “Downtown” by Petula Clark.

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Investigators continued to piece together how this individual could have assembled a bomb and over what time frame.

“It’s just going to take us some time,” Douglas Korneski, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Memphis field office, said at a Saturday afternoon news conference. “Our investigative team is turning over every stone” to understand who did this and why.

The attack, which damaged an AT&T building, has continued to wreak havoc on cellphone service and police and hospital communications in several Southern states as the company worked to restore service.

Fox News’ Lucas Manfredi and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/nashville-bombing-suspect-is-anthony-quinn-warner-63-police-sources-say

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – Authorities believe an explosion that rocked the downtown Nashville area early on Christmas Day was a deliberate act, according to Metro Nashville Police Department.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said the 6:30 a.m. explosion, which shattered glass and damaged buildings, was believed to be “an intentional act.” Police earlier said they believe a vehicle was involved in the explosion. He said three people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, although none were in critical condition.

Police and fire crews were on the scene, as were investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Right now, it’s a public safety concern, to make sure everybody is accounted for and to make sure the spread of the fire doesn’t go any further,” Michael Knight, a spokesman for the ATF in Nashville, told The Associated Press.

Black smoke and flames were seen early Friday billowing from the area, which is packed with bars, restaurants, and other retail establishments and is known as the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene.

Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard.

Buck McCoy, who lives near the area, posted videos on Facebook that show water pouring down the ceiling of his home. Alarms blare in the background and cries of people in great distress ring in the background. A fire is visible in the street outside. McCoy said the windows of his home were entirely blown out.

“All my windows, every single one of them got blown into the next room. If I had been standing there it would have been horrible,” he said.

“It felt like a bomb. It was that big,” he told The Associated Press.

“There were about four cars on fire. I don’t know if it was so hot they just caught on fire, and the trees were all blown apart,” he said.

Source: https://www.voanews.com/usa/nashville-explosion-may-have-been-intentional-police-say

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At least 217 people have been charged with a federal crime, and more than 1,000 arrests have been made in major metropolitan cities since the Department of Justice launched Operation Legend in July, U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced on Wednesday.

Nearly 400 firearms have been seized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Barr launched Operation Legend on July 8 as “a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative in which federal law enforcement agencies work in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight violent crime,” the DOJ said in a release.

MURDER CHARGE ANNOUNCED IN KILLING OF LEGEND TALIFERRO, 4, WHOSE DEATH SPARKED OPERATION LEGEND

It was named in honor of 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed while he slept in the early morning of June 29 in Kansas City, Mo. Last week, a Jackson County prosecutor announced second-degree murder charges against his suspected killer, 22-year-old Ryson Ellis, who was being held in Tulsa County Jail.

LeGend Taliferro, 4, was shot and killed while he slept in the early morning of June 29 in Kansas City, Mo. (Courtesy of FBI)

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“LeGend is a symbol of the many hundreds of innocent lives that have been taken in the recent upsurge of crime in many of our urban areas,” Barr said at a press conference in Kansas City. “His life mattered and the lives of all of those victims matter. His name should be remembered and his senseless death, like those of all the other innocent victims in this recent surge, should be unacceptable to all Americans.”

Barr said the federal government has dispatched to nine U.S. cities more than 1,000 additional agents from the FBI, ATF, Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Marshals Service to work shoulder to shoulder with state and local partners on homicide and assault squads to crack cases.

The government has also allocated $78.5 million in grants to support additional police positions, hire more prosecutors, and improve technology to solve firearms crimes.

“We saw one result of those efforts last week when Kansas City Police arrested the suspected murderer of LeGend,” Barr said. “This arrest will not bring LeGend back but it will make his case an example of how we can come together to take violent criminals off the street and to make our communities safer.”

The spike in violent crime, according to Barr, may have a lot of reasons, including the “pent up aggression prompted by state and local quarantine orders,” the premature release of dangerous criminals by the courts and prosecutors, and the efforts “to demonize police and defund their work.”

“Operation Legend is the heart of the federal government’s response to this upturn in violent crime. Its mission is to save lives, solve crimes and take violent offenders off the streets before they can claim more victims,” Barr said. “Rather than demonizing and defunding our police, we are supporting and strengthening our law enforcement partners at the state and local level.

First launched in Kansas City, Operation Legend expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee on July 29, to St. Louis and Memphis on Aug. 6, and to Indianapolis on Aug. 14.

The latest figures on charges and arrests do not include Indianapolis, whose operation was first announced last Friday. The arrests of more than 1,000 people include those charged in state and local courts.

In Kansas City, a total of 43 defendants have been charged with federal crimes. Sixty-one have been charged with federal charges in Chicago, 16 in Albuquerque, 32 in Cleveland, 22 in Detroit, 11 in Milwaukee, 25 in St. Louis, and 7 in Memphis, Tenn.

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The charges include illegal possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances or narcotics, drug trafficking, theft, carjacking, bank robbery, illegal re-entry of an alien in connection with a widespread drug conspiracy, and making false statements to licensed firearm dealers.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-operation-legend-barr-200-federal-crimes-1000-arrests

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(CNN)[Breaking news update, published at 9:26 p.m. ET]

One person was injured at a site where an incendiary device was found Tuesday night in Austin, Texas, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said no package bomb was involved and the agency doesn’t think the incident is related to the string of package bombs that has hit Austin four times and San Antonio once.

Earlier, authorities said they were responding to a report of a possible explosion.

At least one person was injured Tuesday night in a reported explosion in a south Austin, Texas, neighborhood, officials with Austin-Travis County EMS said.

There were no details on what caused the explosion or if it was connected to a string of recent bombings in Austin and San Antonio.

EMS said a man in his 30s suffered potentially serious injuries and was taken to a hospital.

The news of the most recent blast came on a day two packages in a different parts of Texas caused authorities to widen their investigation.

The two packages, one that exploded at a FedEx sorting center near San Antonio and another later discovered at a location more than an hour away, are connected to four bombings in Austin, law enforcement agencies said Tuesday evening.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tweeted Tuesday evening that it, the FBI and Austin police had confirmed the connection. They were also responding to the reported explosion in south Austin.

One package Tuesday injured a FedEx worker in Schertz, near San Antonio, when the parcel went off just after midnight, officials said.

A second package, which was found at a FedEx facility near Austin’s international airport, was being examined by authorities, the FBI’s San Antonio office said in a tweet Tuesday afternoon.

Earlier, San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus had said at a news conference that a second suspicious parcel had been found at the Schertz location, but that was later contradicted by federal law enforcement officials, who said the second suspicious parcel had been found at an Austin FedEx facility.

Tuesday’s developments are adding to the anxiety in the state capital, where four package bombs and reports of other dubious parcels have Austin in what one US lawmaker from Texas described as “absolute panic.”

Timeline of the bombings

Key developments

• A FedEx spokesman, Jim McCluskey, said of the person who sent the package that exploded, “The individual responsible also shipped a second package that has now been secured and turned over to law enforcement.”

• The company also gave law enforcement “extensive evidence related to these packages and the individual that shipped them collected from our advanced technology security systems,” McCluskey added in a statement.

An ATF vehicle sits at a FedEx sorting center where a package exploded Tuesday in Schertz, Texas.

• The FBI is investigating a “confirmed link” between packages involved in the Austin investigations and a mail delivery office in Sunset Valley, southwest of downtown Austin, police in Sunset Valley said Tuesday. They did not indicate which packages were connected to the Sunset Valley office.

These Austin residents fear that the explosions may be racially motivated

• The FedEx explosion represents a new method for the bomber or bombers. None of the four previous explosives was shipped, police have said.

• Hansen, the Schertz police chief, said he was confident the package that exploded there was not meant to target that facility or the city, though he wouldn’t say why.

• The FBI’s Smith declined to answer reporters’ questions about whether the package that blew up was destined for Austin. Smith also said he had no reason to believe people in Schertz face any threat.

• There have been more than 1,200 calls about suspicious packages that have come in since March 12, Austin police said.

• Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee asked an FBI acting deputy director for a briefing in Washington on efforts to find the bomb maker. “There is absolute panic in Austin,” said Jackson-Lee, who represents Houston.

• President Donald Trump did not comment when asked Tuesday if he thought the bombings were acts of domestic terrorism. Trump called the situation “absolutely disgraceful” and said of those responsible: “We have to find them really immediately.”

The four Austin bombings

In Austin, authorities have been combing for clues to the four explosions there, the first three of which involved cardboard packages left in front yards or porches. They weren’t delivered by the US Postal Service or services such as UPS or FedEx, police say.

Those three explosions — one on March 2 and two more on March 12 — killed or wounded three African-American people and one Hispanic person. The blasts happened in east Austin areas that predominantly have minority residents, and some in the area expressed concern the attacks might have been racially motivated.

Police have not uncovered a motive and have not ruled out the possibility those bombings could be hate crimes.

In the fourth blast, a device Sunday was triggered by a tripwire, injuring two white men, police said. It had been left on the side of a road in a predominantly white area. Those men are in good condition at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, a hospital representative said.

“The use of a tripwire is far less discriminating than leaving parcel bombs at residences and suggests that (Sunday’s) victims were not specifically targeted,” the global think tank Stratforsaid in one of its Threat Lens reports.

At the Schertz FedEx facility, a package that was moving along an automated conveyor exploded around 12:25 a.m. Tuesday, Schertz Police Chief Michael Hansen said. A worker standing near the explosion suffered minor injuries and was treated and released, officials said.

If one perpetrator is behind all five blasts, then the person deployed an unusually wide range of skills and delivery methods, CNN law enforcement analyst James Gagliano said.

“Some of these folks … as long as the bombmaker walks away with 10 fingers and 10 toes, that’s successful to them,” said Gagliano, a retired FBI supervisory special agent.

“But the method, the delivery system and the different means that he’s having these things in place shows that he’s trying to show — if it’s the same person on all five of these — a full panoply of different ways of doing this,” he added, “and that’s frightening.”

Three members of the Congressional Black Caucus called Monday for federal officials to classify the bombings as terrorist attacks and determine whether they are “ideologically or racially motivated.”

The NAACP called the incidents “acts of domestic terrorism” and called for vigilance and caution for communities in Austin.

‘I was pretty scared’

Brian Jaimes, 19, a package handler at the FedEx facility near Austin where investigators were working on a suspicious package, said employees were called to the front office and then told to leave the building.

“I was pretty scared,” said Jaimes, who has worked at the facility for four months.

When asked whether the news about the bombings has made him nervous about coming to work, he said: “I try not to think about it, especially since I work (at a package shipper).”

What agencies are involved?

More than 350 special agents assigned by the FBI, as well as Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and forensic investigators in Quantico, Virginia, are on the Austin case.

What the tripwire suggests about the bombmaker

At the state level, about 100 Texas Department of Public Safety officers, sergeants and special agents as well as the Texas Ranger bomb squad, bomb-sniffing dogs, intelligence agents and helicopters are also involved, CNN affiliate KXAN reported.

Police departments in Houston and San Antonio are sending bomb technicians and canine teams to Austin, their police chiefs said Monday.

How are they examining the evidence?

ATF has taken evidence from the four blast sites in Austin, Police Chief Brian Manley said.

“The prior three scenes are already in the lab at Quantico, and the evidence from the scene from last night is on its way to Quantico as well,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday night.

“They’re looking at the devices, they’re comparing them, looking for similarities,” he said. “The similarities they’ve seen to this point, lead them to believe — as we do — that these are all being constructed by the same person or persons who are responsible for this.”

How are they handling the tips?

Austin bombs were ‘meant to send a message,’ authorities say

Austin police have received lots of tips, Manley said Monday night.

“As each tip comes in, it gets assigned to either a team of FBI agents, ATF agents or Austin police detectives to do follow-up work on,” he said.

Manley urged residents to call police with any information.

“No matter how inconsequential you think it may be, that may be the piece of evidence we need to link it together and solve this before we have someone else in our community that gets seriously injured or killed,” he said.

What are police asking residents to do?

Police are appealing to residents to pay attention to their surroundings. Residents shouldn’t approach or touch anything that looks suspicious, Manley said.

Austin police: We’re dealing with a serial bomber 01:46

“We now need the community to have an extra level of vigilance and pay attention to any suspicious device — whether it be a package or a bag, a backpack — anything that looks out of place,” he said Monday. “Do not approach items like that.”

CNN’s Holly Yan, Tina Burnside, Jason Morris, Mike Figliola, Keith Allen, Braden Goyette, Amir Vera, Ed Lavandera, Christina Zdanowicz and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.

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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/20/us/austin-explosions/index.html

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