Suspect in attempted mail bombings is charged with 5 federal crimes, faces up to 58 years in prison

By RNN Staff 

(RNN) – Federal law enforcement officials made an arrest Friday in connection to the mass mail bombings targeting high-profile Democrats and critics of President Donald Trump, said a Justice Department spokesperson.

The suspect was identified as Cesar Sayoc Jr., a 56-year-old Florida resident. Officials said cell phone tracking and DNA evidence helped lead them to Sayoc, authorities said.

“This is utterly unacceptable,” Attorney General Jeff Session said at an afternoon news conference. "Political violence or the threat of violence is antithetical to our system.”

Sayoc has been charged with five federal crimes that could put him away for up to 58 years, according to Sessions.

“Please know that from the beginning, this investigative team has made this matter a top priority," the attorney general said. “Let this be a lesson to anyone, regardless of their political beliefs, that we will bring the full force of the law to anyone who uses violence to push an agenda. We will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

The charges against Sayoc include interstate transportation of an explosive device, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents and other persons, threatening interstate communications and assaulting current and former federal officers.

Sessions declined to comment on whether the attempted bombings were politically motivated or not.

A stray fingerprint on one of the packages turned out to be the thing that led investigators to the suspect.

“Based on their initial analysis, they uncovered a latent fingerprint ... that was on an IED (improvised explosive device) sent to Rep. Maxine Waters,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said. “We can confirm that 13 IEDs were sent to various individuals across the country.”

Previous reports identified only 12 explosive devices. It was not immediately clear who the 13th IED was intended for.

“Though we’re still analyzing the devices in our laboratory, these are not hoax devices,” Wray said.

The FBI director said each device was made up of:

• Roughly 6 inches of PVC pipe
• A small clock
• A battery
• Some wiring

Energetic material – potential explosives and material that give off heat and energy through a reaction to heat, shock or friction.

After Sayoc’s arrest, police in Plantation, FL, towed away a white van with windows covered in pro-Trump stickers. Other decals included Hillary Clinton with a target over her face and “CNN sucks.”

Plantation is in the congressional district of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose name and office appeared as the return address on the packages. CNN reported the suspect has a prior criminal record and previous ties to New York, where many of the bombs were sent.

Sayoc was sentenced for making a bomb threat in 2002 with a year’s probation, the Associated Press reports. He was also convicted in the 1990s in Broward County on grand theft and stolen property charges, and in 2004 on felony charge of fraudulent refunts and misdemeanor of tampering with physical evidence.

President Donald Trump spoke at a previously scheduled event at the White House, gave a brief statement on the arrest, congratulating federal, state and local officials and thanking them for their work.

“These terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country,” Trump said.

Also Friday, the 11th and 12th explosive devices were discovered. Federal officials searching a mail facility Friday in Florida discovered a new suspicious package similar to the other ones containing pipe bombs - this one addressed to Sen. Cory Booker.

The NYPD removed another potential explosive device, via bomb containment unit, found at a postal facility in Manhattan. This one was addressed to James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence and CNN contributor, and sent to CNN’s office at Time Warner Center.

Additional suspicious packages addressed to Sen. Kamala Harris and billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer also were under investigation.

Officials described all of the devices as functional, but none have detonated. The FBI warns more could be out there.

Actor Robert De Niro, who was targeted with a package at his New York office, released a statement Friday.

“I thank God no one’s been hurt, and I thank the brave and resourceful security and law enforcement people for protecting us," he said. "There’s something more powerful than bombs, and that’s your vote. People must vote!”

The investigation into the mail bombs led authorities to parts of southern Florida, including a postal facility in the city of Opa-locka, where officials believe some of the packages might have originated. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen confirmed on Thursday that some of them originated in Florida.

The list of potential victims reads like a list of Trump’s most notable critics or targets of his verbal attacks. At around 3 a.m. Friday, Trump took to Twitter to deflect blame that his angry rhetoric may have played a role in inspiring this and other violent attacks.

Around 10 a.m., he lamented that the “'bomb' stuff” had slowed the momentum of early voting for Republicans.

Other packages were sent to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder, billionaire philanthropist George Soros, De Niro, and former CIA Director John Brennan, whose package was sent care of CNN. Two devices each were sent to addresses for Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters and former Vice President Joe Biden.

“We have to keep to doing what we’re doing in order to make this country right,” said Waters said in an interview with Blavity. “That’s what I intend to do and, as the young people say, ‘I ain’t scared.'”

The first, sent to Soros, was discovered Monday at his New York home. Authorities intercepted the remaining packages over the coming days before they reached their targets.

The packages have all contained explosives resembling crude pipe bombs. Investigators are examining them to see if they were meant to detonate or simply to intimidate.

The FBI is warning Americans to remain vigilant, because the suspect could have mailed other potentially explosive packages that authorities haven’t uncovered.

The agency is asking for the public’s help in catching the person responsible. On Thursday, it released a statement describing the packages:

“The packages were mailed in manila envelopes with bubble wrap interior, and were affixed with computer-printed address labels and six Forever stamps. They had a return address of “DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ” [sic] in Florida. The packages, which are all similar in appearance and contain potentially destructive devices, are being sent for analysis at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.”

The FBI warned people not to touch any suspicious packages but to call 911 or their local law enforcement agency.

Those with information about the case are asked to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

All the packages have return addresses for Wasserman Schultz, a congresswoman whose district is in southern Florida. She also is the former head of the Democratic National Committee.

The package meant for Eric Holder was forwarded to one of Wasserman Schultz’s offices because it was the return address.

By Wednesday, authorities reported they had intercepted packaged devices addressed to Holder, Obama, Clinton, Waters, Soros and Brennan.

The device meant for Brennan also was sent to CNN’s New York headquarters; the sender might have mistakenly thought Brennan works there.

The devices addressed to Biden were discovered Thursday and matched others sent to targets. Officials discovered them at post offices in Wilmington and New Castle, DE.

Late Thursday night, a suspicious package was found at the Los Angeles office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but it was quickly determined to be safe, KCAL reported.

A mail clerk in the building had called police after seeing that “Santa Monica” was misspelled on the package, which turned out to be a manila envelope with a CD inside.

Packages containing the devices had misspellings on their addresses, so the clerk thought the “Santa Monica” misspelling could have meant another potential explosive.

The Time Warner Center also was evacuated again Thursday evening over unattended packages in the mall section of the building, only a day after the explosive meant for Brennan was delivered there.

The packages discovered in the Time Warner Center on Thursday were cleared by the NYPD shortly after being discovered.

A package addressed to De Niro at his company Tribeca Productions in New York was delivered Wednesday and reported to authorities early Thursday morning. It reportedly made it to the seventh floor of the building before a security guard reported it. The NYPD bomb squad removed it from the scene.

De Niro, like other targets, has publicly disparaged the president.

After the packages to Obama, Clinton and CNN were discovered, Trump made a plea for national unity and urged Americans not to attack each other over political differences. He changed his tone later that night, blaming the media for causing the widespread anger that potentially motivated the person who mailed the devices.

Even as the bomb squad was at work in New York Thursday morning, Trump took to Twitter to attack the media for what he called “purposely false and inaccurate reporting.” He offered no evidence to back his claims.

Meanwhile, critics have cited Trump’s frequent vitriolic attacks on his political opponents as a determining factor in the coarsening of American civil discourse.

On Thursday, Brennan tweeted back at Trump, writing: “Stop blaming others. Look in the mirror. Your inflammatory rhetoric, insults, lies, & encouragement of physical violence are disgraceful.”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has pushed back against assertions that the president was in any way culpable for the potential bombing attempts.

“The president is certainly not responsible for sending suspicious packages to someone no more than Bernie Sanders was responsible for a supporter of his shooting up a Republican baseball field practice last year,” she said Thursday.

Sanders referred to the shooting that badly injured Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and others. The shooter, James Hodgkinson, attacked the team because of their political views, his social media suggested.

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