Law enforcement officials have arrested 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc in connection with the string of bombing attempts that have targeted political rivals of President Donald Trump since last weekend.
Sayoc was apprehended Friday morning at an Auto Zone store in Plantation, Florida, reports say.
Shortly after he was taken into custody, video footage of Sayoc attending a Trump rally in Cincinatti, Ohio in October 2016 emerged online. Sayoc is a registered Republican, according to early reports.
He also posted video of himself at a Trump rally for Trump's birthday.
He seems nice.
Twitter exploded with disgust as users connected Sayoc's fondness of Trump as motivation for the attempted assassinations.
Authorities also towed and impounded Sayoc's white van, which was plastered with pro-Trump bumper stickers and decals showing prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton - to whom one of the bombs was sent - and Michael Moore - in crosshairs.
The list of targets includes former President Barack Obama, the Clintons, George Soros, former Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former CIA Director John Brennan, and members of Congress.
More than a dozen devices have been discovered, including four on Friday addressed to Democratic Senators Kamala Harris (CA) and Cory Booker (NJ), former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer.
Another pipe bomb was found at Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Enterprises on the 7th floor of 375 Greenwich Street on Thursday. The package was nearly identical to others that were sent to top Democrats and CNN earlier this week.
Sayoc was reported to Twitter earlier this month for making threats toward political commentator Rochelle Ritchie after Ritchie appeared on Fox News.
Ritchie blasted Twitter for not acting sooner or taking her threats seriously.
"Hey @Twitter remember when I reported the guy who was making threats towards me after my appearance on @FoxNews and you guys sent back a bs response about how you didn’t find it that serious," Ritchie wrote. "Well guess what it’s the guy who has been sending #bombs to high profile politicians!!!!"
Ritchie, at least, gets an epic "I told you so."
It looks like Ritchie wasn't the only recipient of Sayoc's online harassment, however.
Twitter itself was not spared from critique for its lackluster enforcement of behavioral policies.
Early reports indicate that DNA found on one of the packages belongs to Sayoc. Law enforcement officials are still working to determine whether Sayoc intended for the bombs to go off or if his goal was to instill fear and cause chaos.
The suspect has a criminal record and ties to both Florida and New York, where the majority of the explosive packages were sent.
Sayoc pleaded guilty in 2002 for threatening to "discharge a destructive device." Beyond that, he has a history of petty criminal behavior.
"Sayoc was convicted in 2014 for grand theft and misdemeanor theft of less than $300, and in 2013 for battery," CBS reported on Friday. "In 2004, he faced several felony charges for possession of a synthetic anabolic-androgenic steroid. He also had several arrests for theft in the 1990s, and pleaded guilty in 1991 to third-degree grand theft."
Sayoc's former attorney, Ronald Scott Lowy, told CBS that Sayoc "wasn't always in his right mind" and that his client "expressed emotions about the institutions of America" and "felt oppressed by them, but not necessarily in a political way."
@IrnaEnglish/X
