Preso na sexta-feira como suspeito do envio de 12 pacotes-bomba para importantes figuras do Partido Democrata, Cesar Sayoc Jr., de 56 anos, é filiado ao Partido Republicano, é um construtor amador que se identifica com o “gerente”, ex-stripper e tem uma longa ficha policial, inclusive, de ameaçar uma explosão a bomba em 2002.
Sayoc foi preso pelo FBI na sexta-feira na cidade de Aventura, na Florida, onde residia, ao final de um esforço concentrado das forças de segurança nesse estado. A maioria dos pacotes tinha como remetente a deputada federal Debbie Schultz, com o endereço de seu gabinete na Florida.
O secretário de Justiça dos Estados Unidos, Jeff Sessions, informou que Sayoc está sujeito a condenação de 58 anos de prisão pelos crimes de atacar atuais e ex-funcionários públicos federais e ex-presidentes do país, por enviar explosivos pelo correio, por transportá-los para outros Estados e de impor ameaças ao comércio inter-estadual. Entre as pessoas “atacadas” estão o ex-presidente Barack Obama e a ex-secretária de Estado Hillary Clinton.
Em 2002, quando passou pela polícia por ameaçar explodir uma bomba, seu advogado na época, Ronald Lowy, descreveu Sayoc como “um confuso homem que teve dificuldade em controlar suas emoções”. Um primo da Sayoc, Lenny Altieri, usou termos mais fortes. “Eu sei que o cara é um lunático”, disse Altieri à Associated Press. Altieri confirmou que Sayoc era uma stripper. Fonte: Associated Press
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Bomb suspect: Ex-stripper with cash problems, Trump devotion
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By MICHAEL BIESECKER and STEPHEN BRAUN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Cesar Sayoc is an amateur body builder and former stripper,
a loner with a long arrest record who showed little interest in politics until
Donald Trump came along.
On Friday, he was identified by authorities as the Florida man who put pipe
bombs in small manila envelopes, affixed six stamps and sent them to some of
Trump's most prominent critics.
His arrest capped a week in which the bombs aimed at some of America's biggest
names _ Obama, Clinton, De Niro _ dominated the news and invited speculation
about who might be responsible for them. The answer, authorities said, was
Sayoc, a 56-year-old man from Aventura, Florida, who was devoted to Trump, had
a history of financial problems and an extensive arrest record, including a
stint on probation for making a bomb threat.
His attorney in that 2002 case, Ronald Lowy, described Sayoc as “a confused
man who had trouble controlling his emotions.''
A cousin of Sayoc, Lenny Altieri, used stronger terms.
“I know the guy is a lunatic,'' Altieri told The Associated Press. “He has
been a loner.''
Altieri confirmed that Sayoc had been a stripper. On an online resume, Sayoc
described himself as a booker and promoter for burlesque shows.
Stacy Saccal, the general manager of the Ultra Gentlemen's Club in West Palm
Beach, said Sayoc had worked there for about two months, first as a floor
bouncer and for the past month as a disc jockey _ most recently on Thursday
night, hours before his arrest Friday morning.
“I didn't know this guy was mad crazy like this,'' she said Friday. “Never
once did he speak politics. This is a bar. We don't talk politics or religion
in a bar, you know?''
Florida voter records show Sayoc first registered in March 2016 as a
Republican and cast a ballot in that November's presidential election.
He has been an active Trump supporter, tweeting and posting Facebook videos
that appear to show him at the president's rallies.
Sayoc's social media accounts are peppered with memes supporting Trump, and
denigrating Democrats.
Sayoc lived in a white 2002 Dodge Ram van, which was plastered with stickers
supporting Trump and criticizing media outlets that included CNN, which was
also targeted by mail bombs.
The van was often parked outside an LA Fitness in Aventura, backed up in a
parking space under the trees for shade. Patrons say they frequently saw him
in the locker room.
“He'd just be walking straight to the shower and be in the shower forever,''
said Edgar Lopez, who often exercises at the gym. “I never saw him working
out.''
Other times, the van was seen parked at the beach in nearby Hollywood before
dawn, with Sayoc stripping down to skin-tight shorts for an outdoor shower.
“I've seen the guy maybe 80 times and I never said a word to him because I
had a feeling he was a little off,'' said Marc Weiss, the superintendent of a
building near where Sayoc frequently parked. “I assumed because he was
showering at the beach that he was homeless.''
In 2015, he reported to police that his van was broken into outside of a gym
in Oakland Park, Florida. He claimed that more than $40,000 worth of items
were stolen, including $7,150 worth of Donald Trump-brand suits.
But often, Sayoc was on the other side of legal complaints.
In the 2002 bomb threat case, he had lashed out at a Florida utility
representative because his electricity service was about to be cut off. The
arrest report said Sayoc threatened in a phone call to blow up the utility's
offices and said that “It would be worse than September 11th.''
Sayoc was also convicted in 2014 for grand theft and in 2013 for battery. In
2004, he faced several felony charges for unlawful possession of a synthetic
anabolic steroid often used to help build muscles. He also had several arrests
going back to the 1990s for theft, obtaining fraudulent refunds and tampering
with evidence.
Lowy said he recalled that Sayoc also had a run-in with authorities where he
was charged with possessing a fake driver's license after altering his
birthdate to make him appear younger.
Sayoc displayed no political leanings at the time of the bombing charge, Lowy
said, except for plastering his vehicle with Native American emblems. Sayoc
told his lawyer his father was Native American.
