Who Is Cesar Sayoc, the Mail Bombing Suspect?

AVENTURA, Fla. — Cesar Altieri Sayoc Jr., a South Florida man charged in connection with a string of bombs mailed to prominent Democrats, appeared to have a lively social media presence, where he frequently posted in right-wing circles and shared conservative news stories and condemnations of liberal politicians.

Sayoc, 56, appeared to post frequently in Facebook groups like “The Trump American Party” and “Vote Trump 2020” using an account with the name “Cesar Altieri Randazzo.” The account, which was suspended Friday after reports that Sayoc was a suspect in the bombing case, shared photos of Sayoc attending political events and working out at the gym.

Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, the account shared news stories from Breitbart, video clips from Fox News, and posts from pages like “Handcuffs for Hillary.” That year, the account included numerous photos and videos of Sayoc, a registered Republican, at a Trump campaign rally, wearing a red “Make American Great Again” hat.

“We have found and immediately removed the suspect’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram,” Facebook said in a statement. “We will also continue to remove content that praises or supports the bombing attempt or the suspect as soon as we’re aware.”

A Twitter account that federal prosecutors say is Sayoc’s had frequently posted attacks on immigrants, gun-control advocates and prominent Democrats. In one tweet posted several weeks ago, the account posted a photo of Sayoc holding a “CNN Sucks” sign.

Another message sent last month included a threat to former Vice President Joe Biden, along with an aerial photo of what appeared to be Biden’s house. And Wednesday, after federal authorities had recovered a package that had been mailed to billionaire George Soros, it included a post that was critical of Soros and former President Barack Obama.

Here is what is known about the suspect:

— Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Sayoc had been charged with five federal crimes and faces up to 58 years in prison if convicted.

— Sayoc has a criminal history in Florida dating back to 1991 that includes felony theft, drug and fraud charges, as well as being accused of threatening to use a bomb, public records show.

— His criminal record from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement indicates that at the time of his last arrest, in 2015, he was 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds. He has brown eyes, black hair and a scar on his left arm, the records said, and was born in New York. The records listed Sayoc’s occupation as “manager.”

— Broward County court records show that Sayoc was ordered to provide DNA in 2014 and again in 2015 as a condition of probation for two different grand theft charges. That DNA would likely have been submitted to state and federal criminal DNA databases, which are searchable by the FBI.

— According to a 2012 bankruptcy petition filed in Miami, Sayoc resided at the time at his mother’s home. “Lives w/mom,” a handwritten note on the petition said. “Has no furniture.”

— The suspect was arrested at about 11 a.m. in the parking lot of a shopping center in Plantation, Florida, west of Fort Lauderdale. A white van that was covered in stickers was towed away from the scene in the late morning.

— Sayoc once worked as a manager for traveling “male revue shows,” according to the wife of one of Sayoc’s business partners.

— According to a spokesman for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a man with the same name attended the university for one academic year, 1983-1984. The spokesman, Buffie Stephens, said the university was looking for any records associated with his behavior.

A connection to a ‘male revue’ show

Rachel Humberger, the wife of one of Sayoc’s business partners, said Sayoc used to be a manager for traveling “male revue shows.”

“It was a traveling show, but I don’t know what his role was, whether he booked the gigs or what,” Humberger said.

Humberger described the shows as being in the style of “Magic Mike,” a reference to a 2012 movie about male strippers.

More recently, she said, Sayoc had been talking to her husband about starting a new business: fish farms.

“Cesar had opened a bank account” for the new business, she said. “But that’s as far as it got.”

Humberger also said that she found Sayoc to be friendly, based on the short interactions she had with him. “He was always sweet and a nice guy in general,” she said.

Humberger said she never talked politics with Sayoc but had been told he played college soccer.

A Florida resident described seeing a van that appeared similar to the one towed away

The suspect’s white van reminded David Cypkin and his girlfriend, who until recently lived in Aventura, Florida, of a van often parked in the parking lot of a local strip mall, the Shoppes at the Waterways. Cypkin shared photographs with The New York Times that showed a van covered with a number of stickers bearing the image of President Donald Trump and at least one anti-CNN sticker.

Cypkin, 39, said he lived near the mall and would see the van in the early morning when he walked his dog.

“It struck me because of the crazy conspiratorial stickers covering the windows,” said Cypkin, a documentary film producer and editor. “It was unsettling, and also it seemed to be occupied. Sometimes the door would be ajar or a window would be open, which indicated to me that maybe somebody was living in the van.”

“I never wanted to get too close,” he added, although he saw the owner at least once. He described him as an older white man.

Cypkin shared a cellphone picture he took of the van in the early morning of Dec. 31. The photo shows a van similar to the one seen in footage being picked up by law enforcement Friday morning. He said he called the FBI after learning of the arrest.

On Friday, his girlfriend saw the van on the TV news and sent him a screen shot: “Is this the van from the Waterways?”