Suspect detained in mail-bomb investigation
Earlier this week, a package had been sent to former Obama administration CIA Director John Brennan in care of CNN in New York.
Investigators are expressing confidence they will identify who is responsible for sending the pipe bombs. “We will identify and arrest the person or people responsible for these acts,” New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
All of the “suspected explosive devices” were being taken to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s laboratory at the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, said O’Neill.
“We are discovering things by the hour,” he added at a news conference where other officials also said tips from the public were providing leads for investigators.
Investigators are specifically looking at the southern part of the state of Florida as a source of some of the packages, according to media reports.
President Trump is largely blaming the media for the angry political atmosphere in America that critics contend has led to what is being regarded as a wide-scale assassination attempt.
On Friday, Trump directed his ire at CNN, “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!’”
On Thursday, Trump also accused the media, writing on Twitter, “A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News.” Trump said on Twitter on Thursday morning. “It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!”
Trump’s Thursday tweet came as suspected explosive devices addressed to actor Robert De Niro and former Vice President Joe Biden were found Thursday.
Other packages have been addressed to a former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as former U.S. attorney general, two Democratic Party members of Congress and former Central Intelligence Director John Brennan.
Pressed by reporters Thursday on whether there could be a link between Trump’s insults of political opponents and the bombs, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders replied, “the president is certainly not responsible for sending suspicious packages to someone no more than (Democratic Party Senator) Bernie Sanders was responsible for a supporter of his shooting up a baseball field practice last year.”
Throughout the day on Wednesday, leaders from both the major parties called for a return to civility in the political arena.
The U.S. Secret Service said the package addressed to Clinton was discovered late Tuesday, intercepted at a mail screening facility near her home in a New York suburb where she lives with her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
A separate package addressed to Obama, according to the Secret Service, was intercepted at a screening facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, a 365-hectare military facility in Washington.
Two suspect packages were sent to California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, one intended for her office in the nation’s capital and the other for her home district office. The first was intercepted at a congressional mail sorting center in the state of Maryland, and the second discovered by postal inspectors at the Los Angeles Central Mail Sorting Facility.
The first in the series of explosive devices was found Monday in a mailbox outside the New York home of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, a major donor to Democratic candidates.
Sayoc’s criminal record
Sayoc has been arrested several times in Broward County, Florida, dating back to 1991, court records show. His most recent arrest in Broward was in 2014. In 2002, he was charged with making a bomb threat in Dade County, Florida. He was sentenced to one year of probation. Prosecutors agreed to withhold adjudication of the felony charge, meaning it was dismissed after he completed the probation in 2003.
In 1991, Sayoc was charged with third-degree grand theft, a felony. He pleaded guilty that same year and was sentenced to two years of probation. In 1994, his mother sought a domestic violence injunction against Sayoc, court records show.
Sayoc was arrested on drug charges in 2004. He was accused of possession and sale of steroids, along with possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, tampering with evidence, filing fraudulent tax returns, criminal use of personal ID info and possession or unlawful issue of a driver’s license. He pleaded guilty that same year and was sentenced to 18 months of probation.
In 2013, Sayoc was charged with battery and third-degree grand theft, a felony. He pleaded guilty in 2014 and was sentenced to probation. In 2009, Sayoc was charged with operating without a valid license, not having insurance and not having a tag light and was fined after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charges. In 2014, Sayoc was arrested on a petit theft charge and violation of probation. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Sayoc filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and was not married at the time. He was working as a store manager at a supermarket in Hollywood, Florida, at the time. He was also arrested on theft charges in Dade and Palm Beach counties in 1992 and 2015.
This article is published courtesy of the Voice of America (VOA)
