Witness says Sayoc arrested 'without incident'
53 views · Published 31 October 2018 · 4:46 · Indexed 3 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(26 Oct 2018) A Florida man with a long criminal history was taken into custody Friday in the nationwide mail-bomb scare targeting prominent Democrats who have traded criticism with President Donald Trump, a first break in a case that had seized the national conversation and spread fear of election-season violence with little precedent in the U.S. Law enforcement officials identified the man as Cesar Sayoc, 56, of Aventura, Florida. He was picked up at an auto parts store in the nearby city of Plantation. Court records show Sayoc has a history of arrests for theft, illegal possession of steroids and a 2002 charge of making a bomb threat. It was not immediately clear whether Sayoc had been formally charged in the current case. Thomas Fiore, manager of West Broward Community Management was a witness to the arrest and said the suspects apprehension happened "without incident." "I didn't see or hear of any any anybody getting injured. It doesn't you know suspect nor any law enforcement you can see where you know were injured in any way. And I gotta say they did a very good job." FBI investigators were seen inside the AutoZone store and left with an unidentified woman who appeared to be an employee of store. Earlier law enforcement officers were seen on television examining a white van, its windows covered with an assortment of stickers, outside the Plantation auto parts store. Authorities covered the vehicle with a blue tarp and took it away on the back of a flatbed truck. The stickers included images of Trump, American flags and what appeared to be logos of the Republican National Committee and CNN, though the writing surrounding those images was unclear. The development came amid a nationwide manhunt for the person responsible for a series of explosive devices addressed to prominent Democrats including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Trump, after Sayoc was apprehended, declared that "we must never allow political violence take root in America" and Americans "must unify." As in comments earlier in the week, he did not mention that the package recipients were all Democrats or officials in Obama's administration, in addition to CNN, a news network he criticizes almost daily. Earlier Friday, he complained that "this 'bomb' stuff" was taking attention away from the upcoming election and said critics were wrongly blaming him and his heated rhetoric. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/7f261eff53db8379751bddea3c90d253
