An ex-New Yorker with a rap sheet for using explosives and sending threatening letters was arrested Friday in Florida for the spate of pipe-bomb packages targeting nationally known Democrats and critics of President Donald Trump, federal officials announced.
Suspect Cesar Sayoc Jr., 56, was taken into custody in Plantation, Fla., shortly after two threatening packages sent to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper were discovered Friday in the ongoing domestic terrorism case, authorities said. A total of 13 packages were received across five frightening days this week.
"We do believe we've caught the right guy ... but there are still plenty of questions," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. "This was a nationwide investigation of enormous scope and the greatest importance."
Sayoc faces five federal charges, including making threats against former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and faces up to 58 years in prison at trial. Manhattan Federal Attorney Geoffrey Berman's office will prosecute the suspect, who was initially identified from a latent fingerprint left on an envelope and DNA samples taken from pieces of two bombs, according to Wray.
The last homemade bomb so far was intended for Sen. Kamala Harris and found at a Sacramento, Calif., mail facility after Sayoc was in federal custody. Wray stressed at his news conference that authorities concluded "these are not hoax devices," and said more of the missives could still be in transit.
A police source told the New York Daily News that Sayoc, the target of a coast-to-coast manhunt, was finally tracked down via his cellphone. During a Thursday night search of a Florida mail facility, investigators learned his number. Authorities then "pinged" the phone to track Sayoc and take him into custody Friday morning, the source said.
The Aventura, Fla., resident was arrested by authorities at an AutoZone auto parts outlet in South Florida to end the stretch of crudely constructed bombs crisscrossing the country via the U.S. mail. Live video from the scene showed Sayoc's white van sitting empty in a parking lot, plastered with photos and signs _ including an anti-Islamic State poster, American flags, several pictures of Trump and a "CNN Sucks" sticker.
There were also photos of Hillary Clinton and left-wing moviemaker Michael Moore placed in a rifle's crosshairs. "My president," read the caption alongside one of the Trump photos, while another showed the president riding on the front of a tank with "TRUMP" written on its front and side.
All-news network CNN was targeted Wednesday by the bomber, with its newsroom forced to evacuate after a potentially lethal package was discovered in the mailroom. A second package addressed to CNN was found in a Midtown postal branch on Friday morning.
Sayoc's first arrest, a 1991 bust for grand theft, was followed by allegations of domestic violence, possession/sale of steroids and a criminal traffic violation _ and a threat to blow up a local utility company.
He was also ticketed for parking in a handicapped spot in 2002 in Hallandale, Fla.
The suspect's social media indicates Sayoc was a die-hard Trump supporter, and includes video from a 2016 Trump campaign event. Sayoc's Twitter page features a meme mentioning deep-pocketed Democratic donor George Soros, the first person targeted in the series of mailings when a pipe-bomb package appeared Monday in his Westchester County, N.Y., mailbox.
Asked about Sayoc's motivation in targeting political enemies of Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered no answer.
"I don't know, other than what you might normally expect," said Sessions. "He appears to be a partisan; that will be determined by the case going forward."
Trump _ hours after a tweet blasting CNN and others for their coverage of the bombings _ used a more conciliatory tone in congratulating law enforcement for the arrest.
"These terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country," said Trump "We must never allow political violence to take root in America. We cannot let it happen. I'm doing everything in my power as president to stop it."
Investigators quickly covered the vehicle, a likely source of evidence in the case, with a blue tarp before moving the van from its space on a flatbed truck. An assortment of law enforcement officials stood in the parking lot of the residential neighborhood after the suspect was cuffed to end the national search.
Authorities had previously acknowledged that some of the potentially lethal packages were sent from Florida. The Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed late Thursday that its bomb squad and K-9 unit were involved in a search of a mail facility in Opa-Locka, where some of the explosives supposedly originated. It was unclear if authorities were seeking additional suspects in the domestic terror investigation.
Sayoc, a registered Republican, is a Brooklyn native who was still living in the borough in the mid-1980s. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2012, claiming assets of just over $4,000 and debts of $21,000 _ largely from credit cards.
"Debtor lives with mother, owns no furniture," he claimed in a court filing. His major asset was a 2001 Chevy Tahoe with 285,000 miles on it. And Sayoc was sentenced to probation after his 2002 arrest in Dade County, Fla., on a charge involving an unspecified explosive device.
A criminal lawyer who represented Sayoc in a 2004 steroid case recalled his client as an unlikely candidate for politically motivated attacks.
"He's someone who doesn't exhibit the sophistication to commit such a sophisticated crime," said attorney Ronald Lowy in a Daily News interview. "He's always shown a diminished capacity in dealing with society, a difficulty conforming or carrying on substantial tasks without supervision. This is very surprising."
The latest targets of the plotter or plotters fit neatly with the list of previous recipients: Booker is a frequent critic of Trump, while Clapper was a member of the Obama administration.
The suspicious Clapper package was found Friday in a Midtown post office, while the Booker mailing turned up in a Florida mail facility.
The Clapper envelope _ addressed to the Time Warner Center, home to CNN's offices _ was discovered in a W. 52nd Street Facility, prompting police to shut down the busy Midtown stretch between Eighth and Ninth avenues around 8 a.m.
Post office employees immediately alerted the NYPD, with a chaotic scene of pedestrians, police and the press assembling at the intersection.
"It appears, at least in this case, they got the correct spelling of my name and they got the right network," said CNN contributor Clapper during a Friday appearance on the network. "More seriously, I'm really not surprised and in some sense, relieved.
"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."
Police sources said the new packages "closely resembled" the ones that sent to the homes of Obama and Clinton, along with other prominent Democrats including Rep. Maxine Waters, former Vice President Joe Biden, liberal philanthropist Soros and Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro.
CNN had already received one package addressed to ex-CIA director John Brennan, a vociferous Trump critic and frequent guest on the news channel.
NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill, speaking at a Friday morning police event, expressed certainty shortly before the arrest that the case would be solved.
"Once again the eyes of the world are on New York City and the New York City Police Department and our law enforcement partner," he said. "There is no doubt in my mind that we will in due course identify the person or persons responsible."
Trump, for a second straight day, unleashed his venom on the network twice targeted during the terror spree. He made no mention of law enforcement efforts to locate the would-be bomber.
"Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the current spate of Bombs and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma City bombing, yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, 'it's just not Presidential!'" read a rambling Trump tweet sent before sunrise.
De Niro, the star of "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas," released a Friday statement urging Americans to make their voices heard in the Nov. 6 midterm elections.
"There's something more powerful than bombs, and that's your vote," said De Niro, who famously announced "F--- Trump" at this year's Tony Awards. "People must vote!"
The suspicious Manhattan package was removed around 10 a.m. and placed into a containment vehicle that delivered the device to the NYPD complex at Rodman's Neck in the Bronx. The first 10 devices _ discovered in New York, Delaware, Florida, California and Washington, D.C. _ were shipped to the FBI's Quantico lab for analysis as a bevy of federal agencies and the NYPD continued to search for the suspect behind the packages.
"It's been a tough week in the city and I think even though people have had every reason to be concerned," said Mayor de Blasio on his Friday radio show. "I have to say at the beginning New Yorkers have been absolutely outstanding in how they've dealt with this."
Authorities acknowledged Thursday that additional undelivered packages could still be in the mail. All the packages included crude bombs fashioned from PVC pipes and sent inside non-descript manila envelope, with pre-printed addresses and a half-dozen stamps _ each bearing an American flag.
