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In this sketch, Cesar Sayoc raises his hand in the Manhattan District Federal Court on November 6, 2018, in order to swear on the veracity of his claim that he needs an attorney-in-office. (Elizabeth Williams / AP)
Matt Zapotosky
National Security Journalist Covering the Department of Justice
Federal prosecutors in New York on Friday got an indictment of 30 counts of indictment of the man accused of sending packets bombed to prominent Democrats and critics of New York. Trump across the country, bringing more serious charges and more numerous than the ones he faced before.
Cesar Sayoc, 56, who lived in a pickup truck in Aventura, Florida, faces a life sentence on charges, which include five counts of the use of weapons of mass destruction and five counts. illegal shipment of explosives mail and five counts of interstate communications threatening. His next court appearance was not immediately scheduled.
A Sayoc lawyer did not immediately respond to a message asking for comment.
The authorities said that they thought Sayoc would be responsible for sending 16 explosive devices to people considered to be enemies of President Trump, including former President Barack Obama, the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Liberal billionaire George Soros and others. Sayoc was arrested last month and charged with five counts. Even after her arrest, the authorities continued to pick up the parcels they thought they had sent in the mail.
[‘He felt that somebody was finally talking to him’: How the package-bomb suspect found inspiration in Trump]
None of the devices exploded. The FBI director, Christopher A. Wray, said that it was not about hoaxes.
Sayoc's family and associates said he was a troubled man with mental health issues who lied while looking for an identity with which he felt at ease . He has worked in striptease clubs, wrestling and has had frequent clashes with the law, including an incident in 2002 in which he threatened to blow up a Florida utility company.
By 2015, he was interested in Trump – participating in campaign events and posting on social media his support for the presidential candidate. Sayoc covered the van in which he lived with pro-Trump stickers and stickers of the president's opponents, in the shape of a cross.
Prosecutors have previously claimed that Sayoc had begun planning for the shipment of any bombs – consisting of six-inch PVC pipes, a small clock, a battery, cables and wires. what the authorities described as "energy equipment" or possibly explosive – as early as July. The search history on his phone shows that he searched for "Hilary Clinton Hime [sic] address "on July 15th and" address Debbie wauserman Shultz "on July 26th.
Each of the packages listed Shultz – a likely spelling of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) – in the return address. Sayoc searched throughout the months of September and October for addresses from other people including Obama, Senators Cory Booker (DN.J.), Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) And the main Democratic donor Tom Steyer, announced the prosecutors.
The FBI has linked Sayoc to devices via fingerprints and a possible DNA match, the authorities said. His lawyer in Florida, where he appeared for the first time in court, called the evidence against Sayoc "fragile".
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