The suspect arrested for sending suspicious packages to Democratic leaders has been arrested by the FBI.
UPDATE 2: Cesar Sayoc Jr. has been named as the suspect. His van had dozens of pro-Trump stickers and pictures of Trump covering the windows of his van. Armed FBI agents were seen covering the white van with a tarp and loading it onto a tow truck following the arrest.
UPDATE 1: The suspect is a 56-year-old man who has a criminal history, according to law enforcement officials. He has an Aventura, Florida address, and reportedly has ties in New York. The man, who still remains unnamed, was arrested at a business in Plantation, Florida, a suburb of Miami. The suspect was tracked down using a cell phone. Authorities recovered a cell phone, a laptop computer, and other electronic devices from the suspect, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
ORIGINAL: A Florida man has been arrested in south Florida in connection with the series of suspicious packages, suspected to be mail bombs, sent to Democratic leaders and critics of President Donald Trump on October 22 through 26, multiple sources told CNN. The suspect, who remains unnamed at this time, is believed to be in his 50s, and lives near a facility which the packages were mailed through. It remains unclear if the suspect worked alone or had help. Department of Justice spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores confirmed that one person was in custody, and said authorities will hold a press conference about the arrest in Washington, DC, at 2:30pm ET on Friday.
The arrest comes just hours after two more suspicious packages were found. One was intercepted in New York City at a postal facility. It was addressed to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and CNN and resembled the 11 other explosive devices sent to the network and prominent Democrats. Another suspicious package was intercepted in south Florida, addressed to New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. None of the suspected pipe bombs have detonated, and have all been taken to the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Virginia for analysis.
The running list of people sent suspicious packages now includes:
Billionaire George Soros: Package, sent to his home in NY Bill and Hillary Clinton: Package sent to their home in NY, but intercepted by Secret Service Barack Obama: Package intercepted by the Secret Service in DC
Former AG Eric Holder: Package sent to Florida office of Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Rep. Maxine Waters: Two packages, one found at mail-screening facility in Maryland, a second at a post office in LA
Former CIA Director John Brennan: “Live explosive device” delivered to CNN’s NY office
Former VP Joe Biden: Two packages found at post offices in Delaware Robert De Niro: One package sent to his production company’s building in NYC
Former Director of NI James Clapper: One package found at a NYC post office
Sen. Cory Booker: One package, found in Florida
This story is still developing. HollywoodLife will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
