Mother says bomb accused ‘is mentally ill’

THE mother of the Florida man accused of mailing 15 pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and other critics of US President Donald Trump said her son had long suffered from mental illness in a letter sent to ABC News, the network reported.

“My son has been ill for a long time and my family and I have tried, over and over again, without success to urge him to get the help he needs,” Madeline Sayoc wrote.

She wrote that she was shocked to see Cesar Sayoc, her son, arrested and charged last week with mailing the devices to former president Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and a number of other high-profile Democrats.

Sayoc, a former male stripper, pizza delivery driver and disc jockey, faces a maximum penalty of 48 years in prison.