COPS CHARGE ‘MAIL BOMBER’
FBI swoop on Trump supporter as more packages are found
BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN A MAN was charged last night in connection with a mail bomb campaign targeting high-profile critics of Donald Trump.
US justice department officials revealed a fingerprint found on one of the packages helped them identify their suspect as Cesar Sayoc, of Aventura, Florida.
The 56-year-old has been charged with illegally mailing explosives, illegally transporting explosives across state lines, making threats against former presidents and assaulting federal officers.
He faces up to 58 years in prison if found guilty.
The amateur bodybuilder was taken into custody in a car park in Plantation, Florida.
A witness, who was in a nearby car dealership, said: “I heard like a bomb. I opened the door and saw the FBI.”
Local TV stations showed investigators covering a white van with a blue tarpaulin before removing it on a truck.
Stickers on the van, thought to belong to Sayoc, include one of Trump riding a tank and another showing his 2016 presidential rival Hillary Clinton in the cross hairs.
The development came amid a nationwide manhunt for the person responsible for at least 13 explosive devices addressed to prominent Democrats, including former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as Hollywood star Robert De Niro.
The latest two suspicious packages were intercepted yesterday. They were addressed to Senator Cory Booker and James Clapper, the ex-director of national intelligence.
None of the packages had exploded.
A federal law enforcement official said more arrests could follow.
According to Sayoc’s Facebook page, he is a Trump supporter. He posted pictures and videos of himself at one of the president’s rallies in October 2016.
Court records show the registered Republican has a history of arrests for theft, illegal steroids possession and a 2002 charge of making a bomb threat.
After Sayoh was apprehended, Trump said: “We must never allow political violence to take root in America.”