A suspicious package found early this morning near the federal courthouse in Portland turned out to contain old clothes and a cell phone charger. That's according to Portland Police Chief James Craig, who said an examination of the duffel bag and backpack found in the bushes next to the courthouse entrance yielded nothing suspicious.
Nevertheless, as federal investigators swept cargo plans in Philadelphia and Newark today after a suspicious device was found in Britain, Craig says Portland police aren't taking any chances. "We certainly didn't take it lightly and we considered that, but it was no nexus to what was going on in other places."
The device discovered in Britain also turned out to harmless, according to the New York Times. But late today, President Obama said that packages mailed from Yemen that were intercepted in the last 24 hours did contain explosive material.
One of the packages was found on a UPS plane in Nottingham, England, and the other at a FedEx facility in Dubai, according to the Washington Post. Obama says the packages represent a "credible terrorist threat."