Fingerprint Leads Feds To Brooklyn-Born Mail Bombing Suspect

NEW YORK, NY — A man suspected of mailing explosives to high-ranking Democrat officials and CNN was arrested Friday, a spokeswoman for the United States Department of Justice confirmed.

Cesar Sayoc, 56, was arrested in Plantation, Florida in connection with 12 makeshift bombs found in packages, according to Broward County Sheriff's officials. Sayoc was born in Brooklyn and is a registered Republican, Florida public records show.

The accused bomber was charged with five federal crimes including transporting explosives across state lines, sending explosives in the mail, threatening interstate communications, assaulting federal officials and threatening a former president of the United States, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Friday. The charges carry a potential sentence of 58 years in federal prison, Sessions said.

Investigators were led to Sayoc by a latent fingerprint picked up on the envelope of an explosive device sent to Congresswoman Maxine Waters in Los Angeles, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Friday. The fingerprint matched those taken from a prior arrest of Sayoc in Florida and matched other prints investigators were able to pull from explosives sent this week, Wray said.

The devices sent by Sayoc contained PVC piping, wires, a clock, a battery and "energetic material" — which can be explosive when reacting to heat, friction or force, Wray said.

Wray stated clearly during a Friday press conference: "These are not hoax devices."

NYPD commissioner James O'Neill said Friday attributed Sayoc's arrest to the strong relationship between the NYPD, the FBI and other federal and state law enforcement agencies. O'Neill did warn New Yorkers and others around the country to remain vigilant, as there may be undiscovered devices remaining in the mail.

The Sun-Sentinel, a local newspaper in Broward County, reported that Sayoc owned a white van covered in stickers supporting President Donald Trump. Law enforcement agents placed a tarp over the vehicle Friday and were preparing to load it onto a truck, according to the report.

Cesar Sayoc: What We Know About Suspected Mail Bomber

Federal officials will reveal more details at a scheduled press conference Friday afternoon, a DOJ spokeswoman said.

The packages containing unsophisticated explosive devices resembling pipe bombs were sent to people such as Hillary and Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama, billionaire political donor George Soros and actor Robert De Niro this week, officials said.

The Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle was evacuated Wednesday when a package meant for CNN was discovered in the building's mail room. Another package addressed to CNN's offices was flagged Friday morning at a Hell's Kitchen post office, officials said.

The common denominator among the targets of the bombs: They had all drawn the ire of President Donald Trump.

Trump tweeted at 3:14 a.m. Friday morning that he found it "funny" how media organizations such as CNN have linked his statements to the attempted bombings.

All of the packages discovered in the plot have been listed with a return address for Florida Congresswoman and former Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. One of the packages — intended for former Attorney General Eric Holder — was returned to Schultz's office.

None of the devices exploded or cause any harm, officials said.

Lead photo courtesy Broward County Sheriff's Office