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US police on Friday arrested a pro-Trump sympathizer with numerous criminal records in Florida, whom she accuses of having sent 13 homemade bombs to prominent Democrats as a result of an investigation carried out on a case that poisoned the campaign for the legislative ones.
Justice Minister Jeff Sessions confirmed that the man arrested a few hours earlier in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area was named Cesar Sayoc and was charged with five federal counts, including Illegal shipment of explosives.
The 56-year-old, a former stripper in several US media, faces up to 48 years in prison.
He was identified by his fingerprints and DNA, found on at least one of the packages, said FBI director Christopher Wray.
Thirteen explosive devices – made up of PVC pipe ends, electrical wires, batteries and an alarm clock – have been sent across the United States since Monday, targeting 11 people, Wray said.
"There may be other packages," he added. "We think we are holding the right person (…) but many questions are still unanswered".
However, the authorities have not confirmed any information that has emerged in recent hours: namely that Sayoc Sayar had many criminal record, and was a virulent supporter of the US President.
His truck, seized Friday by the authorities, was covered with pro-Trump stickers, according to the images broadcast by American television. Registered as a Republican on the electoral lists, he regularly targeted democrats on social networks.
"His mother and sisters pushed him for decades to consult a specialist. He has always refused, "Sayoc family lawyer Ron Lowy told CNN on Friday night.
"Trump finds an echo in this kind of outsiders," he added. "I would not be surprised (…) if the bombs were so badly designed that they could never have worked. It seems to me he does not have the intellectual capacity to plan such a plot. "
– "It's not my fault" –
While this affair has tended the climate in the middle of the campaign for the American legislative elections of November 6, President Trump refused to consider that his often aggressive speeches towards the democratic leaders could have pushed to the act Mr. Sayoc.
"I did not see my picture on his van," he said before flying to North Carolina. "I heard he preferred me to others, but I did not see that. It's not my fault".
In a North Carolina campaign rally on Friday night, the US president described sending these packages as "terrorist acts," calling for these actions to be "punished to the extent permitted by law."
"Political violence should never be allowed in America," he added, promising to do "everything in his power to stop it."
– Two new targets –
The arrest came on Friday after the police confirmed the interception of two additional suspicious packages, in all respects similar to the previous ones found between Monday and Thursday, all containing potentially explosive devices.
The packages all had the same shipping address: that of a Florida Democrat, Debbie Wbaderman Schultz, whose constituency includes the suspect's place of residence.
One was intercepted in Florida, for Democratic Senator Cory Booker, the other at a Manhattan post office, sent to CNN for former intelligence chief James Clapper.
Messrs. Booker and Clapper were added to a list of personalities already featuring financier George Soros, ex-president Barack Obama, former vice president Joe Biden, former secretary of state and unfortunate rival of Donald Trump at the President Hillary Clinton, actor Robert De Niro, former Barack Obama justice minister Eric Holder and California Democrats Maxine Waters and Kamala Harris.
– "Bad for the dynamics" –
If Trump Friday called the Americans to unity, he has not stopped since Wednesday to blow the heat and cold on this story.
Before the arrest, he lamented that the black series has halted the "momentum" that he believed the Republicans in the lead up to the elections.
After the arrest, he hoped that this dynamic could now "go back" and that the Republicans would win "a great victory".
On Thursday, he had not hesitated to blame the media for causing the sharp political tensions that currently characterize American society.
"Much of the anger we see today in our society is caused by the intentionally inaccurate and imprecise treatment of traditional media, which I call + Fake News +," he tweeted on Thursday.
Many Democratic leaders accused him of "condoning violence" and stirring up divisions.
"I think the president still has not measured the importance of the presidency and the importance of his position," New York governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN on Friday.
AFP
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