Cesar Sayoc, according to various reports is an active Republican voter. The authorities towed his van, which according to NBC’s Dan Krauth is covered with President Trump’s pictures and stickers.
Federal authorities arrested a man in Florida on Friday suspected of sending at least a dozen parcel bombs to high-profile critics of U.S. President Donald Trump days ahead of congressional elections, officials said.
The man was taken into custody in the parking lot of an AutoZone store in Plantation, near Fort Lauderdale, where two witnesses told Reuters they heard a loud blast at the time of the arrest.
A federal law enforcement official named the suspect as Cesar Sayoc, born in 1962, and said more arrests could follow.
Cesar Sayoc, according to various reports is an active Republican voter. The authorities towed his van, which according to NBC’s Dan Krauth is covered with President Trump’s pictures and stickers.
Among his decals appear to be a picture of Hillary Clinton's head between a set of crosshairs and another reads 'Dishonest media CNN sucks'. He also has a sticker saying he's a Native American Trump supporter.
Public records showed Cesar Sayoc has been arrested numerous times over the years for domestic violence, theft and other charges. In one case, court records showed he was accused of threatening to use a bomb, though details were not immediately available.
Sayoc was taken into custody on Friday morning outside an auto parts store in Plantation, Florida, federal authorities said. He is suspected of sending parcel bombs to former President Barack Obama, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and various other public figures who have been frequent targets of Trump's derision.
Sayoc's white van, which was seized by authorities, had numerous signs in the windows showing Trump, including a drawing depicting the president standing on top of a tank emblazoned with "Trump" on the sides. The van also had a "CNN SUCKS" sign and a photo of Clinton with a bullseye superimposed on her face. CNN also received one of the suspicious packages at its New York office.
Sayoc appears to have a Facebook profile under the name Cesar Altieri Randazzo, featuring videos and photos of him attending multiple rallies for Trump, including at least one rally in Florida. The account has "liked" more than 100 conservative pages, including several anti-Clinton and pro-Trump groups.
He is a promoter, booking agent and "live entertainment owner," according to his LinkedIn profile, which used his middle name, Altieri, and listed him as the owner of International Gold Productions.
The profile also described him as a veterinary student at High Point University in North Carolina. The school's registrar's office confirmed that Sayoc had applied, but said he was not currently enrolled.
He graduated Brevard College in North Carolina in 1984, according to his LinkedIn profile. The college declined to confirm whether he had attended the school, but Sayoc was on the Brevard College soccer team in 1981 and pictured as part of a Catholic organization at the school, according to school documents posted online.
Court records in Florida listed Sayoc's birthplace as Brooklyn, New York.
He filed for bankruptcy in Miami in 2012, according to court records. At the time, Sayoc said he lived with his mother in Aventura, Florida, and listed a $1,150 tax refund and a 2001 Chevy Tahoe vehicle as his only assets.
In court documents, Sayoc said he had worked as a store manager for a year at a small company called Hassanco Investments Inc in Hollywood, Florida, earning less than $12,000 a year. Attempts to reach the owner of the company were not successful.
The U.S. Justice Department was due to hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT. (1830 GMT), a spokeswoman said.
Trump congratulates police
"It's an incredible job by law enforcement. We've carried out a far-reaching federal, state and local investigation to find the person or persons responsible for these events. These terrorising acts are despicable, and have no place in our country. No place," Trump said.
Trump said he has instructed authorities to spare no resource or expense in finding those responsible, and bringing them to swift and certain justice. "And we will prosecute them, him, her -- whoever it may be to the fullest extent of the law," he said.
"We must never allow political violence to take root in America -- cannot let it happen, and I'm committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it, and to stop it now, to stop it now," said the president.
Trump said he just concluded a briefing with the Department of Justice following the apprehension of the suspect.
He applauded the FBI, Secret Service, the justice department, US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the NYPD and all law enforcement throughout the country.
"These people have worked so hard, and to have done it so quickly. It's looking like a needle in a haystack. How do you do this so quickly? They've done an incredible, incredible job, and I want to congratulate them," he said.
"But 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. There is no country like our country, and every day, we are showing the world just how truly great we are," Trump said.
Earlier, Trump tweeted that the bomb scare is having an adverse impact on the electoral prospects of his Republican party ahead of the November 6 mid-term polls.
Police found two of the suspicious packages on Friday addressed to U.S. Senator Cory Booker and James Clapper, the former U.S. director of national intelligence, officials said.
The 11th package was addressed to Booker, a Democratic senator from New Jersey, and was discovered at a mail sorting facility in Florida, the FBI said. A 12th package was addressed to Clapper at cable network CNN and was intercepted at a New York City post office, a federal law enforcement official said.
A thirteenth suspicious parcel was discovered addressed to Democratic U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California, CNN reported.
A federal law enforcement official said earlier on Friday that the focus had intensified on Florida as a key location for the investigation and possible point of origin of the packages.
Police closed roads around the AutoZone parking lot, and helicopters flew overhead.
A man named Dre, a manager at a used car dealership next door to the AutoZone, said he heard a loud noise that sounded like an explosion shortly after 11 a.m.
"I heard like a bomb," Dre, who declined to give his full name, said in a telephone interview. "I opened the door and saw the FBI there."
Dre said they were told by FBI agents to stay inside as the area was on lockdown.
A woman who lives nearby and declined to give her name said she was in her yard weeding on Friday morning when she heard a loud bang, saw smoke and heard a lot of shouting.
All the people targeted by the suspicious packages have often been maligned by right-wing critics. They included Democratic Party donor George Soros, former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, and former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said that at least five of the packages bore a return address from the Florida office of U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee.
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