FBI agents arrested 56-year-old Cesar Altieri Sayoc on Friday, charging him with five counts in relation to explosive-laden packages that appeared around the country this week. The FBI identified 13 packages that likely came from Sayoc, and he now faces 48 years in prison, per a Department of Justice complaint.
Fingerprint evidence and "possible DNA association" connected the suspicious packages addressed to former government officials, donors, and politicians critical of President Trump, the filing showed. The packages came from a Florida postal center near where Sayoc lives, and addressees' names featured misspellings that were frequent on Sayoc's social media accounts. All 13 packages contained "potentially explosive" materials that were "not hoax devices," FBI Director Chris Wray confirmed in a Friday press conference. There may be other packages in transit, he said.
After Sayoc's arrest, images began circulating of a van covered in anti-CNN and pro-Trump stickers taken into FBI custody. The Friday filings confirm the van belonged to Sayoc.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In the conference, Attorney General Jeff Sessions specified that Sayoc is charged with threats against former presidents and illegal mailing of explosives, among other charges. Sessions closed the hearing by saying he didn't know why Sayoc targeted Democrats, but added that he "appears to be a partisan." Read the entire complaint against Sayoc here.
-
Political cartoons for December 7Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include the Trump-tanic, AI Santa, and the search for a moderate Republican
-
Trump’s poll collapse: can he stop the slide?Talking Point President who promised to ease cost-of-living has found that US economic woes can’t be solved ‘via executive fiat’
-
Sudoku hard: December 7, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
