Other people who were sent packages included three Democratic members of Congress: Representative Maxine Waters, Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris; former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, two former intelligence chiefs: ex-CIA Director John Brennan and ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper; two billionaire Democratic donors and activists: George Soros and Tom Steyer; and actor Robert De Niro.

[16] On March 21, 2019, Sayoc pleaded guilty to 65 felony counts, including using weapons of mass destruction in an attempted domestic terrorist attack.

[17] The first suspicious package containing such a device was found in the mailbox at the home of Democratic donor George Soros in Katonah, New York.

[19] A package containing a device, addressed to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (misspelled as "Hilary"), was intercepted by the Secret Service during a mail screening in Chappaqua, New York.

A device addressed to former President Barack Obama was intercepted by the Secret Service during a mail screening in Washington, D.C.[20] Additionally, a package containing an explosive and suspicious powder was found in CNN's mail room in the Time Warner Center in New York City, addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan (misspelled as "Brenan").

[23] Brennan has served as a senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News and MSNBC since February 2018, but has also appeared on CNN.

[33] The Miami-Dade Police Department and federal authorities believed that several of the packages would have passed through a mail processing and distribution center in Opa-locka, Florida; they searched the facility for evidence with a bomb squad and K-9 unit.

A device addressed to billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democratic donor who frequently appeared in ads encouraging Congress to impeach President Trump on CNN, was intercepted by a postal worker at a sorting facility in Burlingame, California.

[39] According to The New York Times, the device sent to Soros's house was constructed from a length of PVC pipe about six inches (150 mm) long, filled with explosive powder.

[42] According to the Associated Press, a law enforcement official said tests have determined that white powder found inside an envelope delivered to CNN, along with a pipe bomb, was not viable.

The packages were furnished with a meme parody of the ISIL flag with the inscription "Git 'Er[sic] Done",[48] a catchphrase of standup comedian Larry the Cable Guy.

[53] On October 26, Sayoc was arrested in the parking lot of an AutoZone store in Plantation, Florida,[54][55] in connection with the series of explosive devices sent to several individuals.

[60] He attended Brevard College for three semesters starting that year and transferred to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1983 where he played on the school's soccer team but did not declare a major.

[74] Sayoc was active on Twitter and Facebook, where since 2016 he was known for his extreme views and frequently posted pro-Trump and anti-liberal messages and memes, as well as right-wing conspiracy theories and stories from InfoWars, WorldNetDaily, and Breitbart News.

[75][76] Ilya Somin, a libertarian-leaning law professor at George Mason University and a scholar at the Cato Institute, reported that he was the subject of death threats from Sayoc made on Facebook in April 2018.

[77] Democratic strategist Rochelle Ritchie had also received a threatening tweet from Sayoc on October 11 that said: "Hug your loved ones real close every time you leave you home"; Twitter initially failed to act on this.

[84] Moore said on Late Night with Seth Meyers on November 2 that the FBI had visited his home to inform him that Sayoc had conducted extensive research on him, according to his computer records.

[85] Reports indicate that "soldering equipment, stamps, envelopes, paper, a printer and powder" were found in Sayoc's van, suggesting that he could have built bombs in it.

[91] On March 21, 2019, Sayoc pleaded guilty to 65 felony counts, including using weapons of mass destruction in an attempted domestic terrorist attack.

[93] In a filing by the defense on July 22, 2019, Sayoc's attorneys said he had "lost everything in the Great Recession", had "cognitive limitations and severe learning disabilities", and was "abandoned by his father and sexually abused by a teacher at his Catholic school."

[95][better source needed] Hillary Clinton thanked the Secret Service for intercepting the package and during a political event in Florida on behalf of Congressional candidate Donna Shalala she stated "Every day we are grateful for their commitment, and obviously never more than today, but it is a troubling time isn't it?

"[96] Several sources pointed out that some of the targets of the mailings, such as Clinton and Waters, are people that Trump routinely attacks at his campaign rallies – his "favorite punching bags.

"[97][98] New York Mayor Bill de Blasio described the packages as "an act of terror" and stated that all politicians must stop encouraging attacks on media.

[104] His comments were echoed by former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said that Trump had urged the public to come together and had sent a very clear, strong unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence had no standing in the United States.

He tweeted, "Republicans were doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this 'Bomb' stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows – news not talking politics.

"[109] CNN President Jeff Zucker said about the mailings, "There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media.

[8] CNN also reported that the bombings were one of three hate-motivated incidents that took place in the United States the same week, along with shootings in a synagogue in Pittsburgh and a Kroger grocery store in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.

[111] Following the news of the events, the hashtag "#MAGABomber" began trending on Twitter, referring to Trump's 2016 campaign slogan, "MAGA" (Make America Great Again).

[112][113] The incident has been the subject of conspiracy theories saying the events are part of a false flag operation, that the attacks were staged by those who hoped to cast the blame on Trump supporters.

"[118][119][120] Other right-wing commentators who tried to spread the "false flag" conspiracy theories included Ann Coulter, Dinesh D'Souza, Michael Savage, James Woods, Frank Gaffney, Candace Owens, and Laura Loomer.