Cesar Sayoc, arrested in bomb plot against Trump’s critics, is a registered Republican with a long criminal history
- Sayoc, 56, is an amateur body builder who has been arrested 10 times before, including for making a bomb threat in 2002
- He attended Trump rallies, his van is covered with pro-Trump stickers, and his social media accounts are filled with memes attacking the president’s opponents
The Florida man in custody in connection with the mail bombs sent to Democratic political figures is a fervent supporter of US President Donald Trump with an extensive record of past arrests, including a stint served on probation for making a bomb threat.
Cesar Altieri Sayoc, 56, of Aventura is an amateur body builder and businessman whose online resume describes him as a promoter and booking agent for male stripper and burlesque shows. He was born in New York City and attended college in North Carolina before moving to the Miami suburbs in the late 1980s.
His former lawyer described him as a mentally ill man searching for a way to fit into American society, after failing at everything.
“He wasn’t successful in anything he did,” Ron Lowy said. “He’s been bankrupt, gone into foreclosure. He’s 14 years old living in an adult body.”
He is a registered Republican with social media accounts containing memes supporting Trump, denigrating Democrats, and promoting conspiracy theories about George Soros, the billionaire political donor who was the first targeted this week by a package bomb. He also attended Trump rallies, according to photos and videos he posted on Facebook.
At the auto parts store in Plantation, Florida, where Sayoc was taken into custody, authorities towed away his white van, covered with stickers supporting Trump and criticising media outlets that included CNN, the news channel also targeted by a mail bomb this week.