How Feds Tracked Down Mail Bomb Suspect Cesar Sayoc
Credit to Author: Issie Lapowsky| Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 20:46:24 +0000
Police have arrested 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc in connection with 13 explosive devices sent to prominent Democrats and CNN this week. Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirmed the arrest during a press conference on Friday, while FBI director Christopher Wray detailed how law enforcement officers tracked him down so quickly.
Sayoc was arrested Friday outside an AutoZone in Plantation, Florida. Law enforcement officials also discovered a white van belonging to the suspect, which, according to photos and videos from the scene, was covered in pro-Trump stickers, as well as other decals that appear to depict crosshairs over the faces of several figures who were sent explosive devices, including former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and former president Barack Obama. One decal read "CNN Sucks." CNN, Clinton, Obama, and the other mail bomb targets have been widely vilified by right-wing media, as well as by President Trump. Police towed the van, covered in a blue tarp, away from the AutoZone for investigation.
Sayoc faces five charges, according to the Department of Justice complaint: interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents and certain other persons, threatening interstate communications, and assaulting federal officers. If found guilty on all counts, Sessions said, Sayoc would face up to 48 years in prison1. You can read the complaint in its entirety below.
"Today's arrest doesn't mean we are out of the woods."
FBI Director Christopher Wray
While the first device was discovered Monday at the home of philanthropist George Soros, forensic analysis didn’t begin on the packages and the devices themselves until several days later, Wray said in the press conference, as the evidence slowly made its way to the FBI’s forensics labs on total containment vessels, specialized vehicles designed to transport explosive materials. The first to reach Quantico, Wray said, were those sent to Obama and congresswoman Maxine Waters.
The complaint says that the improvised explosive devices in all of the packages were of similar construction, each containing six inches of of PVC pipe, a small clock, a battery, wiring, and so-called energetic material, which refers to explosives that are triggered by heat, shock, or friction. Some of the mailings also contained photographs of their intended recipients with a red X marked over them.
While some far-right commenters this week had framed the wave of mail bombs as “false flags,” dummy devices intended to sow confusion, the Justice Department was emphatic that they were legitimate attempts to harm. “These are not hoax devices,” Wray said.
According to Wray, FBI lab analysts on Thursday gleaned a fingerprint matching Sayoc’s from the manila envelope that contained the pipe bomb intended for Waters. The complaint says that a DNA sample from a piece of the IED inside two of the envelopes possibly matches Sayoc’s, based on a previously collected sample in possession of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Officials reportedly then located Sayoc by tracking his cell phone.
Sayoc has been arrested multiple times previously, according to the FDLE, including for a "threat to bomb" in 2002. Sayoc pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year of probation. Subsequent arrests were related to fraud, possession of a controlled substance, battery and grand theft in the third degree, and more. Based on FDLE records, Soyac appears not to have served any jail time in Florida, but was placed on probation in three separate instances.
The complaint alleges that a wave of packages to Obama, Clinton, Waters, actor Robert DeNiro, and former vice president Joe Biden all routed through the Royal Palm Mail Processing Center in Opa-Lacka, Florida—which services the area in which Sayoc resides—between October 18 and October 20. A package containing an IED addressed to senator Cory Booker was intercepted at that same facility on Friday morning.
In addition to the fingerprint and DNA evidence, the complaint also cites Sayoc’s social media presence. A Twitter account allegedly tied to Sayoc misspelled names like “Hillary” and “Schultz” (as in former congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose name was listed as the return address on all of the mail bomb parcels) the same way. The complaint also notes that the alleged Sayoc account was openly critical of Soros and Obama on October 24, after the mail bombs targeting both had been intercepted.
Prior to reports of Sayoc’s arrest, President Trump had framed the news coverage of the bomb scares as a distraction from the election. "Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this 'Bomb' stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows – news not talking politics," the President wrote on Twitter Friday morning. "Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!"
But hours later, during a scheduled speech at the Young Black Leadership summit, and after news of the arrest became public, Trump called for unity. "We must never allow political violence to take root in America. Cannot let it happen. And I am committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it, and to stop it now," he said. "The bottom line is that Americans must unify, and we must show the world that we are united together in peace and love and harmony as fellow American citizens."
Meanwhile, officials cautioned Friday that the investigation remains ongoing. “Today's arrest doesn't mean we are out of the woods,” said Wray. “There may be other packages in transit now and other packages on the way.”
“Our inspectors will remain diligent and monitor facilities to determine whether there are additional items that have not been found,” said Gary Barskdale, deputy chief inspector of the US Postal Inspection Service. Officials declined to say whether they believe Sayoc acted alone.
1UPDATE 10/26/18 5:30PM ET: This story has been updated to reflect that attorney general Sessions misspoke when he said Sayoc faced up to 58 years in prison if found guilty on all charges. The maximum potential sentence is 48 years.