Florida man charged in connection with 14 bombs sent to Trump critics
The man suspected of mailing at least 14 pipe bombs to some of U.S. President Donald Trump’s leading critics was arrested on Friday on federal charges during one of the most toxic election campaigns in decades, reports Reuters.
Cesar Sayoc, 56, a former stripper and professional wrestler once charged with threatening to bomb an electric company for trying to shut off his lights, was taken into custody by federal agents outside an auto parts store in Plantation, Florida, near Miami as helicopters flew overhead.
Authorities also seized a white van that Sayoc appeared to have used as his dwelling, its windows plastered with pro-Trump stickers, the slogan “CNN SUCKS” and images of Democratic leaders with red cross-hairs over their faces.
Fingerprint and DNA evidence helped identify the suspect, but his arrest did not necessarily end the threat, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray warned at a news conference.
“There may be other packages in transit now and other packages on the way,” Wray said.
One federal law enforcement source told Reuters that authorities were investigating whether other individuals were involved and did not rule out further arrests.
Sayoc’s arrest followed an intense four-day manhunt sparked by the discovery of bombs concealed in packages addressed to such leading Democratic figures as former U.S. President Barack Obama and former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in the 2016 presidential race.
Some of the parcels also contained photographs of the intended recipients marked with a red X, according to a criminal complaint in Manhattan federal court.
The complaint accused Sayoc of sending 13 bombs to 11 individuals, starting with billionaire Democratic donor George Soros. A package surfaced on Monday near his home in Katonah, New York.
A 14th package was found on Friday at a post office outside San Francisco addressed to another wealthy contributor to the Democratic Party and liberal causes, Tom Steyer.
The bombs were sent in manila envelopes lined with bubble wrap and consisted of plastic 6-inch pipes packed with explosive material and wired to small clocks and batteries, the complaint said.
Wray said investigators had yet to determine whether the bombs were actually “functional,” but the devices could be dangerous “if subjected to the right combination of heat or shock or friction.”
All were sent through the U.S. Postal Service system and intercepted before reaching their intended targets without exploding. No one has been hurt.
But the bombs have heightened tensions during the closing days of a highly contentious campaign ahead of the Nov. 6 elections in which Democrats are battling to seize control of Congress now held by Trump’s Republican Party.
According to CNN, Sayoc told investigators the bombs would have done no injury and that he would not have wanted anyone hurt.
Wray said fingerprints on one of two packages sent to U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat, belonged to Sayoc. The complaint also cited a “possible DNA” link between samples taken from two of the bombs and a sample previously collected from Sayoc.
‘POLITICAL VIOLENCE’
Sayoc was charged with five felony counts, including interstate transportation and illegal mailing of explosives, threatening a former president, making threatening interstate communications and assaulting federal officers.
If convicted, Sayoc could be sentenced up to 48 years in prison, officials said.
“We will not tolerate such lawlessness, especially political violence,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at a press conference.
Announcing the arrest to a cheering audience at the White House, Trump said, “We must never allow political violence to take root in America - cannot let it happen,” Trump said. “And I’m committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it and to stop it now.”
A native of New York City’s Brooklyn borough and a registered Republican, Sayoc made his political leanings evident on social media. In Facebook and Twitter posts, he railed against Democrats and liberals, including an anti-Soros tweet two days before a bomb showed up at the financier’s home.
Public records showed numerous arrests over the years for domestic violence, theft and other charges, including the alleged bomb threat against a utility company.
Sayoc was expected to be held at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami and make his first appearance before a judge on Monday, according to former Assistant U.S. Attorney David Weinstein.
‘STOP THE RANCOR’
All the people targeted by the suspicious packages have been outspoken critics of Trump and his administration, foils for the president and his right-wing supporters or both.
Among intended recipients earlier in the week were former Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder, actor Robert De Niro and former CIA director John Brennan. His package was delivered to the Manhattan bureau of CNN, where he had served as an on-air analyst.
On Friday, packages surfaced for Democratic U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, former U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Democratic U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California.
The episode has sparked an outcry from Trump’s critics charging that his inflammatory rhetoric against perceived enemies among Democrats and the press has fostered a climate ripe for politically motivated violence.
Trump’s supporters have accused Democrats in turn of unfairly suggesting that the president was to blame for the bomb scares.
“If we don’t stop this political mania, this fervor, rancor, hatred, you’ll see this again and again and again,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told MSNBC. “...It starts with the president.”
After first calling for unity at the White House event, Trump lamented partisan attacks against him and again pointed at the media.
“I get attacked all the time ... I can do the greatest thing for our country, and on the networks and on different things it will show bad,” he told the crowd, acknowledging an attendee who shouted “fake news.”
