Trump Supporter Accused of Mailing Bombs Is Indicted in New York - The New York Times
The police removing a pipe bomb from a Manhattan post office on Oct. 2. Cesar A. Sayoc Jr. has been indicted on charges that he mailed 16 of the bombs to prominent Democrats and other critics of President Trump. Credit Credit Jeenah Moon for The New York Times
A Florida man accused of mailing 16 pipe bombs to critics of President Trump was indicted in Manhattan on Friday on charges that carry a potential sentence of life in prison.
A federal grand jury returned the 30-count indictment against the man, Cesar A. Sayoc Jr., 56, a fervent Trump supporter who was arrested on Oct. 26 in Plantation, Fla., and brought to New York this week to face charges.
The authorities have said that Mr. Sayoc sent homemade bombs fashioned from PVC pipe and glass shards to prominent Democrats — among them Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama — as well as to CNN and private critics of the president like the actor Robert DeNiro. His fingerprints were found on two of the envelopes in which the bombs were mailed, and DNA evidence links him to 10 of the devices, the government said.
Mr. Sayoc was charged in the indictment in connection with what the authorities have called a “domestic terrorist attack” that involved the mailing of the crude pipe bombs to more than a dozen targets around the United States.
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Cesar A. Sayoc Jr. Credit Broward County Sheriff’s Office
Mr. Sayoc’s federal defender, Sarah Baumgartel, declined to comment on Friday.
Though the bombs were mailed to targets across the country, the indictment charges Mr. Sayoc only in connection with five devices sent to victims in Manhattan and Westchester County, N.Y., which are both part of the Southern District of New York.
Those packages were sent to Mrs. Clinton; Mr. DeNiro; John O. Brennan, a former C.I.A. director; George Soros, a billionaire Democratic donor; and James R. Clapper Jr., a former director of national intelligence.
The top counts contained in the indictment, such as use of a weapon of mass destruction, carry a potential maximum life sentence; and if Mr. Sayoc were to be convicted on a combination of certain of the counts, he would face a mandatory life term, prosecutors said.
The indictment also charges Mr. Sayoc with using a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence; interstate transportation of explosives; unlawful use of the mails; and other counts.
Prosecutors have said Mr. Sayoc had planned his terror campaign for at least three months, and The New York Times has reported that he had prepared a list of about 100 potential targets and that the F.B.I. was in the process of alerting people whose names were found on the list.
“Sayoc’s alleged conduct put numerous lives at risk,” Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Friday. “It was also an assault on a nation that values the rule of law, a free press, and tolerance of differences without rancor or resort to violence.”
Follow Benjamin Weiser on Twitter: @benweisernyt
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Man Accused of Mailing Bombs To Critics of Trump Is Indicted