Alleged mail bomber described as ‘a lunatic’
WASHINGTON — The Florida man charged with sending more than a dozen package bombs to Democratic political figures is described as a troubled loner who showed little interest in politics before the rise of President Donald Trump.
Cesar Sayoc, 56, of Aventura, Fla., has been an amateur bodybuilder and male stripper. He has a history of financial problems and extensive record of past arrests, including a stint served on probation for making a bomb threat. He was born in New York City and attended college in North Carolina before moving to the Miami suburbs in the late 1980s.
Florida voter records show he first registered in March 2016 as a Republican and cast a ballot in that November’s heated presidential election. Sayoc’s social media accounts are peppered with memes supporting Trump, denigrating Democrats and promoting conspiracy theories about George Soros, the billionaire political donor who was the first targeted this week by a package bomb.
At the auto parts store in Plantation, where Sayoc was swarmed by officers and arrested Friday, authorities towed away a white van covered with stickers supporting Trump and criticizing media outlets that included CNN, the news channel also targeted by a mail bomb this week.
“I know the guy is a lunatic,” Lenny Altieri, Sayoc’s cousin, said Friday. “He has been a loner.”
Court records in Florida show that Sayoc was arrested in 2002 and served a year of probation for a felony charge of threatening to throw or place a bomb. Court records available online did not provide further details about the case, but his lawyer in the case said it involved a heated conversation with a Florida utility representative.
Ronald Lowy, a Miami attorney, said Sayoc became frustrated about a lack of service and told a Florida Power and Light employee “something to the effect that you’re not taking care of my problem and I bet you would if I threw a bomb at you.”
Lowy said Sayoc showed no ability at the time to back up his threat with any Sayoc A van believed to be owned by the suspect is towed Friday to an FBI facility in Miramar, Fla. bomb-making expertise.
The lawyer went on to describe Sayoc as “a confused man who had trouble controlling his emotions.”
Lowy said Sayoc displayed no political leanings at the time.
Sayoc was also convicted in 2014 for grand theft and misdemeanor theft of less than $300, and in 2013 for battery. In 2004, he faced several felony charges for unlawful possession of a synthetic anabolic steroid often used to help build muscles. He also had several arrests for theft in the 1990s and faced a felony charge for obtaining fraudulent refunds and a misdemeanor count of tampering with physical evidence.
Lowy said he recalled that Sayoc also had a run-in with authorities over possession of steroids and another case in Broward County where he was charged with having a fake driver’s license after altering his birth date to make himself appear younger.
“His mind doesn’t seem to operate like most people’s,” Lowy said. “It shows in his anger, his emotion and his behavior.”
Sayoc’s name is listed on business records tied to dry cleaning and catering businesses. Records also suggest he had recent financial problems, including losing his home to foreclosure in 2009 and filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in 2012.
Christie Cauble, interim director of communications at Brevard College in North Carolina, said Sayoc enrolled at the school in 1980 and attended through three semesters. At the time, Brevard was a two-year school, and Cauble said Sayoc didn’t graduate.
He then transferred to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, enrolling for the 1983-84 academic year. He played a few games as a walk-on player for the school’s men’s soccer team.
A now-suspended Twitter account that appears to belong to Sayoc, @hardrock2016, includes memes denouncing Florida guber- natorial candidate Andrew Gillum, including a photo of Soros made to look like he’s holding a puppet that resembles Gillum.
Other posts called Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg “fake phony.” He posted memes attacking Hogg in July. He also called Gov. Rick Scott “greatest Governor Ever” in a posting that shows the Republican alongside Trump.
In June, he praised Trump in a birthday message saying: “Happy Birthday President Donald J. Trump the greatest result President ever.”
Debra Gureghian, the general manager of New River Pizza and Fresh Kitchen in Fort Lauderdale, said Sayoc worked as a delivery truck driver for several months until he quit in January.
“He was crazed, that’s the best word for him,” she said. “There was something really off with him.”