Man is held over US mail bombings
Federal agents examine white van after DNA evidence leads to suspect
authorities took a man into custody yesterday in Florida and charged him in connection with the mail-bomb scare that earlier widened to 12 suspicious packages, the Justice Department said.
Cesar Sayoc, 56, was arrested at a vehicle parts shop in the city of Plantation in the Miami area. US officials said DNA evidence was used to trace him.
Last night it was confirmed he faces five charges, including mailing explosives and threatening former presidents.
Law enforcement officers were yesterday seen examining a white van, its windows covered with an assortment of stickers. Authorities covered the vehicle with a blue tarpaulin and took it away on the back of a flatbed truck.
The stickers included images of the American flag and what appeared to be logos of the Republican National Committee and CNN, though the writing surrounding those images was unclear.
President Donald Trump said he expected to speak about the investigation at a youth summit he was due to attend later in the day.
Thedevelopmentcameamid a coast-to-coast manhunt for the person responsible for sending a series of explosive devices addressed to highprofile Democrats including former president Barack Obama, former vice-president Joe Biden and ex-secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Law enforcement officials said they had intercepted a dozen packages in states across the country. None had exploded, and it wasn’t immediately clear if they were intended to cause physical harm or simply sow fear.
Yesterday authorities said suspicious packages addressed to New Jersey senator Cory Booker and former National Intelligence Direcfederal tor James Clapper – both similar to those containing pipe bombs sent to other prominent critics of Mr Trump – had been intercepted.
Investigators believe the mailings were staggered. The US Postal Service searched its facilities 48 hours ago and the most recent packages didn’t turn up. Officials don’t think they were sitting in the system without being spotted.
The FBI said the package to Mr Booker was intercepted in Florida. The one discovered at a Manhattan postal facility was addressed to Mr Clapper at broadcaster CNN’S address. An earlier package had been sent to former Obama-era CIA director John Brennan via CNN in New York.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the Justice Department was dedicating every available resource to the investigation, “and I can tell you this: We will find the person or persons responsible. We will bring them to justice.”
Mr Trump, on the other hand, complained that “this ‘bomb’ stuff ” was taking atten- tion away from the upcoming election and said critics were wrongly blaming him and his heated rhetoric.
Investigators were analysing the innards of the crude devices to reveal whether they were intended to detonate or simply sow fear just before election day.
Law enforcement officials said that the devices, containing timers and batteries, were not rigged to explode upon opening. But they were uncertain whether the devices were simply poorly designed or never actually intended to cause physical harm.
Most of those targeted were past or present US officials, but one was sent to actor Robert De Niro and billionaire George Soros.
The bombs have been sent across the country from New York, Delaware and Washington, DC, to Florida and California, where Republican Maxine Waters was targeted.
They bore the return address of Florida Republican Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.