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Bombing Suspect Arrested; FBI Director Wray Says Not "Hoax
Devices"
26
October, 2018
Update4: FBI
Director Christopher Wray said during a Friday press conference that
"these were not "hoax" devices," and that Sayoc's
fingerprint was found on a package mailed to Rep. Maxine Waters
(D-CA). DNA on two IEDs linked to a sample from a prior arrest
of Sayoc helped capture him.
When
asked if Sayoc acted alone, Wray said: "This is very much an
active and ongoing investigation. We do believe that we've caught the
right guy."
Update3: Suspicious
packages were intercepted in California on Friday addressed to Sen.
Kamala Harris and billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer, according
to the Sacramento
Bee.
The FBI and Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department are on scene at a post office in south Sacramento investigating the possibility that a mail bomb similar to a dozen others mailed to prominent political figures and news organizations around the country has been found there, authorities say.
“We are investigating reports of a suspicious package in South Sacramento,” sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Shaun Hampton said. “It resembles the ones that have been reported throughout the country.”
...
The facility was evacuated and closed, and FBI and U.S. Postal Service investigators and the Sacramento Fire Department were at the scene. A robot was being used to go in and out of the facility, and sheriff’s deputies were going door to door in the neighborhood telling residents to stay inside. -Sacramento Bee
Update2: President
Trump announced the apprehension and arrest, and says the suspect
will be "prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Update: NBC
News has
identified the suspect as 56-year-old Cesar
Sayoc Jr.
BREAKING: Cesar Sayoc Jr., a Florida resident, is suspect arrested in Florida in connection with wave of pipe bomb packages, law enforcement sources tell @NBCInvestigates. NBCNews.com
According
to the New
York Times, citing public records, Sayoc
has a lengthy criminal history dating back to at least 1991,
including felony theft, drug and fraud charges, and
being accused of a bomb threat.
Social
media posts reveal that Sayoc is an ardent Trump supporter, attending
at least one Trump rally:
Based on the Facebook posts, the person identifying as Sayoc was fixated on the idea America would be at risk of terror under Clinton.“Wake up America FBI director warns an attack like never seen before here in America will happen. We can’t afford risk American lives with Hilary Clinton. They will infiltrate refugees guaranteed,” the person wrote. -Yahoo!
According
to The Times:
• His
criminal record from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
indicates that at the time of his last arrest in 2015, he was
5-foot-11 and 215 pounds. He has brown eyes, black hair and a scar on
his left arm, the records said, and was born in New York. The records
listed Mr. Sayoc’s occupation as “manager.”
•
According to a 2012
bankruptcy petition filed in Miami, Mr. Sayoc resided at the time at
his mother’s home. “Lives w/mom,” a handwritten note on the
petition said. “Has no furniture.”
More from the Daily
Mail:
He claims to be Native American, and according to a picture posted on his social media page, he is a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Other information from his LinkedIn page suggests that Sayoc is Filipino.
The profile includes dubious claims that could not be immediately independently confirmed, including that Sayoc is a promoter for male striptease troupe Chippendales, and that he is enrolled in a veterinary medicine program. -Daily Mail
***
Federal
authorities arrested a Florida man at approximately 10:30 a.m. Friday
in connection with a spate of suspected explosive devices mailed
to prominent Democrats and anti-Trump figures over the past week.
According to CBS
Miami,
the man, 56, was arrested in the Miami area after discovering DNA
evidence and using cell phone data which led them to the suspect
- reportedly at a Plantation
Auto Zone in
Broward County, miles away from the Sunrise, FL office of
Congresswoman Debbie Wassermsan-Schultz - the return address on
the mailed devices.
The Miami
Herald,
meanwhile, reports that the suspect is from Aventura and is
being questioned by FBI agents along with the joint terrorism task
force.
A law enforcement source tells the Miami Herald the arrest was made at an auto parts store in Plantation. Miami Herald news partner CBS4 reports a “loud explosion” was heard at the time of the arrest, possibly from an FBI flash bomb device. -Miami Herald
.@evanperez reporting this morning that the man arrested in connection with the pipe bombs, according to a law enforcement source, is in his 50s, with Aventura FL address. He has a criminal history and ties to New York, source says.
Suspect arrested in pipe bomb case had right wing & Trump stickers all over his van. His political affiliations are not yet confirmed, but one can get a pretty good idea from his targets. And his van stickers. boingboing.net/2018/10/26/flo…
WATCH: @SandraSmithFox got reaction from @ChiefLinskey after a mail bombing suspect is arrested in Florida #nine2noon
Department
of Justice Director of Public Affairs, Sarah Igsur Flores, confirmed
that one person is in custody. A press conference is scheduled for
2:30 pm ET.
President
Trump, meanwhile, will address the investigation shortly:
According
to security and terrorism expert, David Videcette, the man has
previously made "terroristic threats" and was under
surveillance for the past 24 hours.
The
arrest follows the interception of two more suspicious packages
Friday morning, addressed to New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and
former National Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper
which was also addressed to CNN - bringing the total number of
mailings to 13, after New York police say an X-rayed package revealed
an object which appeared to be a pipe bomb.
(Previous
list of recipients)
LATEST: 12 suspicious packages known to have been sent as of Friday morning at 9:15 a.m. ET:
1 - Obama
1 - Clinton
2- Biden
1 - CNN / Brennan
1 - Holder / Wasserman Schultz's office
2 - Waters
1 – Clapper
1 – Booker
1 - Soros
1 - De Nironbcnews.to/2qaK95g
The
device for Booker was addressed to his Camden, New Jersey office but
was intercepted in Florida, while the device addressed to Clapper and
CNN was found in a Manhattan post office, which was evacuated in
response.
"At
apporximately 8:15 a.m. an alert postal worker who was aware of a
series of suspected pipe bombs in packages going through the mail
recognized a package that postal workers across the country had been
warned about and shown photographs of in the system here at Radio
City station," said John Miller, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of
Intelligence & Counterterrorism. "This area was secured
while emergency service and the NYPD Bomb Squad responded. The
package was isolated in the post office. The Bomb Squad was able to
use their equipment to conduct an X-ray. Inside they saw what appears
to be a pipe bomb consistent with other devices we’ve seen this
week contained in a package consistent with the packaging we’ve
seen this week."
Clapper
called the packages "domestic terrorism."
"My wife and I are
away from home right now. And our neighbors have been retrieving our
mail. Been very concerned about them. So in one sense, it’s kind of
a relief, but it’s not a surprise," he said. "This
is definitely domestic terrorism. No question about it in my mind."
Check back for updates
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