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.
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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.
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