Man suspected of sending parcel bombs to Trump critics charged
FBI director cautions against taking the improvised explosive devices lightly
WASHINGTON: US authorities have charged Cesar Altieri Sayoc with five federal crimes, including for threatening former presidents, and are probing why he dispatched pipe bombs to at least a dozen leading critics of President Donald Trump.
Investigators warned that explosive devices already posted by the Florida man could still be moving through the postal system, as two more packages were found after his arrest on Friday — one addressed to Indian-origin Democratic senator Kamala Harris and the other to billionaire and Democratic donor Tom Steyer.
In all, 13 such packages had been intercepted as of Friday. Intended recipients included former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former vice-president Joe Biden and former Obama administration officials Hillary Clinton, John Brennan and public figures such as actor Robert De Niro.
Announcing the arrest on Friday, FBI director Christopher Wray described the parcels as “IEDs” — improvised explosive devices — and cautioned against taking them lightly.
“Though we’re still analysing the devices in our laboratory, these are not hoax devices,” he added.
DNA samples picked up from two of the packages, including one meant for Obama, and a fingerprint led investigators to identify their mailer, as samples matched those collected from Sayoc by law enforcement agen- cies before, according to the criminal complaint. He has a long history of charges.
Sayoc, 56, has been charged with five federal crimes, including interstate transportation of explosives, mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents and others, threatening interstate communications, and assaulting officers. If convicted he is looking at 48 years in prison.
Federal officials did not discuss his motivation or other details, saying the investigation was ongoing. But attorney general Jeff Sessions did say the man was “partisan”.
The van seized from him was plastered with pictures of President Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence, and images Clinton and other Democrats in crosshairs. There is a video of the suspect at a 2017 Trump rally in which he holds up a sign saying “CNN sucks”, a frequent chant at president’s rallies.
“I did not see my face on the van,” Trump said to reporters when asked about his pictures on the van. “I don’t know -- I heard he was a person that preferred me over others, but I did not see that.” Trump has bristled at suggestions that his divisive rhetoric could have been a factor that motivated the suspect.
Sayoc has a long history of criminal charges, going back beyond the emergence of Trump as a political figure. In 2014, for instance, he was arrested for making a bomb threat to a public utility service, according to reports citing online criminal record. There were other charges including battery.