As of Friday, Oct. 26, two weeks before midterm elections, officials have in custody the man, whom they have evidence against, responsible for sending over a dozen bombs to high ranking members of the Democratic Party, major donors and strong critics of Donald Trump. His name was released as Cesar Altieri Sayoc and is registered to the Republican Party. Sayoc is 56 years old and is being charged with five federal crimes, some of which include threats against a former president and interstate transportation of explosives.
Cesar Sayoc was known to his friends as being an enthusiastic Trump supporter. He owns a white van that is plastered with stickers in support of Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Within this van he had a list of one hundred names of potential targets. This van is where Sayoc lived and made his bombs. It is important to note that none of the bombs had trigger mechanisms. The U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force has since warned the rest of the members on the list to be on the lookout for suspicious packages. Sayoc said that he never intended on harming anyone. It is evident that these bombs were meant to be a message.
Sayoc was born in Brooklyn, New York and has moved around the eastern seaboard. He finally settled in Florida in 1987 at Bergen Beach. During this time, he worked many odd jobs including that of a stripper, professional wrestler, part time pizza delivery guy, and a club promoter just to name a few of his occupations. In 2012, he filed for bankruptcy. His assets at the time totaled to $4,174, which included his 2001 Chevy Tahoe.
The New York transplant has multiple arrests under his belt in Miami Dade County, Fla. He had been arrested in 2002 for threatening to throw a bomb. His proclivity for explosives is not new. With his most recent arrest he was expected to appear in court on Monday, Oct. 29.
The fifteenth pipe bomb was intercepted while it was enroute to CNN headquarters. Thankfully, once the bombs were first being delivered, CNN president Jeff Zucker moved the domestic mail center for CNN off the headquarters grounds and had the bomb squad stand by as a precaution.
In response to the bombs, Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of N.Y., has called Sayoc’s actions “cowardly and reprehensible.” This sentiment was not shared by the current sitting president, Donald Trump. In wake of these attempted bombings, the president placed blame on the “Fake News” media outlets for dividing the country and not reporting these almost- tragedies correctly. Before the bomber was caught, Trump alluded to the fact that it was so close to the mid -term elections. It could be interpreted that he was blaming the Democratic Party for sending the bombs to themselves. Eventually, once the bomber was caught and it turned out that he was a Republican, he went on to condemn the Sayoc.
This presidential committee is not responsible for what their followers do. However, as Zucker went on to say, “The President, and especially the White House press secretary, should understand their words matter.” Understanding the power of words is fundamental to this presidency.