20 years for Trump fanatic Cesar Sayoc: ‘Beyond very sorry’

His lawyer said Sayoc looked up to Donald Trump as a ‘father figure.’ Photo: Broward County Sheriff’s Office

Cesar Sayoc, who mailed homemade bombs to prominent individuals, including Democratic politicians, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to reports.

Sayoc’s father, Cesar Sayoc Sr., is a Filipino immigrant. His mother is an American woman from Brooklyn.  Dubbed the “MAGA (Make America Great Again) bomber,” he is a fanatic follower of Donald Trump and described by people who know him as being outspoken about his admiration for the former reality TV show personality.

U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff sentenced him to 20 years which includes drug and mental health treatment. On hearing the sentence, Sayoc, according to reports, bowed down his head and said, “I am beyond very sorry for what I did.”

According to the FBI, Sayoc sent IEDS (improvised explosive devices) to 13 individuals, including former President Barack Obama, financier George Soros, Former Attorney General Eric Holder, Democrat senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, and other people he perceived to be critics of Trump.

“Each device consisted of roughly six inches of PVC pipe, a small clock, a battery, some wiring, and what is known as ‘energetic material,’ which is essentially potential explosives and material that gives off heat and energy through a reaction to heat, shock, or friction,” the FBI said in a press statement.

Although none of the bombs exploded, the FBI said, “These are not hoax devices.”

Sayoc, who had previously worked as a pizza delivery man and a nightclub dancer, is known to drive a van covered with stickers of Trump. His lawyer, a federal public defender, said he was sexually abused as a teen, popped steroids,  and suffered from a mental disorder. He read books by Trump and began to look up to him as a “father figure.”

The FBI investigation occurred between October 22 and 24, 2018, when suspicious packages were received at multiple locations in the New York and Washington, D.C., areas and Florida, said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

The break came when a package sent to Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters contained a fingerprint investigators were able to trace to Sayoc. His fingerprint was in a criminal database collected from a previous arrest.

Wray said an investigation of “enormous scope and of the greatest importance” such as this one took law enforcers across the country to New York, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Florida, and California. It involved aside from the FBI, agencies such as theUnited States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Phenomenal work,” he said.

© The FilAm 2019



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