Trump supporting ‘MAGAbomber’ Cesar Altier Sayoc told friends he was tired of ‘watching American culture go down the toilet’ and blamed society’s ills on the Democrats and Barack Obama.
Sayoc, 56, was taken into custody on Friday morning in Plantation, Florida in connection with the 14 suspicious packages sent to high profile Democrats this past week.
According to Sayoc’s Facebook page, he is a diehard Trump supporter and has photos and videos of himself at one of the President’s rallies in October 2016.
Cesar Altier Sayoc was taken into custody on Friday morning in Plantation, Florida in connection with the bombs
Cesar Altier Sayoc (pictured) told friends he was tired of watching ‘American culture go down the toilet’ and blamed society’s ills on the Democrats and Barack Obama
He had been using social media to promote wild conspiracy theories targeting the Clintons, former President Barack Obama and Muslims.
And today an associate described how Sayoc faulted the Democrats and Barack Obama for ‘American culture going down the toilet’.
Sergio Menezes, who had a long conversation with Sayoc in his neighborhood as recently as August, claimed he was angry about ‘losing real estate ground’ to foreigners moving to Miami and displacing him towards the Everglades.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com from Florida, he said Sayoc wasn’t happy that students stopped saying the pledge of allegiance and that immigrants weren’t learning English.
‘He said he lived near the beach for years, but because rich foreigners were buying up everything, he was having to keep moving west, in less valuable areas, because he couldn’t afford living here,’ Menezes said.
‘I was born in Brazil, so I was interested in what he had to say since he sorta was talking about people like me’.
Sayoc, says Menezes, faulted the Democrats for that situation.
Sergio Menezes, (pictured) who had a long conversation with Sayoc in his neighborhood as recently as August, claimed he was angry about ‘losing real estate ground’ to foreigners moving to Miami and displacing him towards the Everglades
Menezes, who runs a pro international competition of kick volleyball with retired soccer stars, remembers striking up a conversation with Sayoc about his van back in August
‘He said the culprits were Democrats in general, and (Pres. Barack) Obama in particular,’ Menezes said.
‘He said Democrats were allowing this to happen. He was very negative towards the Democrats, and went on and on about that’.
Menezes said Sayoc was tired also of watching American culture ‘going down the toilet’.
‘He said he wasn’t happy that people stopped saying the pledge of allegiance in school, that immigrants weren’t learning English.
The funny thing, Menezes said, is that he felt bad for the man.
FBI officers escort Sayoc into a waiting SUV at FBI headquarters after arresting him in Miramar, Florida on Friday
Sayoc was known to have worked as a male stripper who was hired to do shows in clubs around the country in the 1990s
‘I’m more left of center, but I felt for him. He looked like one of these older guys that nobody can relate to, that people would pass by without noticing. He looked out of place.
‘I understand where he was coming from. I told him the world is changing, but he had a hard time accepting that’.
Menezes said he didn’t see the van at the LA Fitness parking lot again.
‘He was angry but logical enough,’ Menezes said. ‘I’d never have thought he’d do something like this’.
As Sergio Menezes saw photos of the van online after Sayoc’s arrest, he knew exactly who the feds were dealing with.
‘I had a long conversation with the guy by his van in mid-August.
‘He was parked near me and I asked him about his van’.
Sayoc has posted a series of comments and memes denigrating Barack Obama
He had been using social media to promote wild conspiracy theories targeting the Clintons, former President Barack Obama and Muslims.
This meme was among a series he posted questioning the credibility of the Clintons
Menezes has just been working out, and the second he walked out of the luxury gym, the loud colors of the stickers grabbed his attention.
‘I thought it was some hippie with Grateful Dead stickers, Menezes said. ‘But when I got near, I knew this guy was some angry person.
Menezes, who runs a pro international competition of kick volleyball with retired soccer stars, got close and remembers striking up a conversation: ‘Hey, man, what’s all of this about?
‘We had the same conversation people are having in Europe and Australia and all over the world. It was mostly about immigration’.
Photographs circulated of Mr. Sayoc holding a placard at a Trump rally and wearing a red ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap at his inauguration.
Among the stickers on his van was one with Hilary Clinton’s face in a simulated gun-sight.
Donald Trump denied any link between his inflammatory language and acts of violence
Trump said the media’s focus on Sayoc’s political leanings was a product of their trying to start a political attack on him
Last night Donald Trump was at pains to deny there was any link between his inflammatory language and acts of violence that were perpetrated by Sayoc.
Speaking to reporters before he addressed a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, POTUS said :‘I heard he was a person that preferred me over others. There’s no blame. There’s no anything.’
‘I think I’ve been toned down,’ the president said before adding, ‘I could really tone it up’.
Mr. Trump continued to scapegoat the news media in Charlotte, saying that the focus on Sayoc’s political leanings was a product of their trying to start a political attack.
‘We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party,” Mr. Trump said at the rally.
‘The media has tried to attack the incredible Americans who support our movement to give power back to the people.
He posted a photograph of himself wearing a MAGA hat in front of the US Capitol in 2017
The 56-year-old Sayoc (left and right) is said to be obsessed with looking young and asked a lawyer about changing his legal age in court documents. He is a former bodybuilder and has worked in strip clubs
Earlier today, Mr. Trump projected a grave and more sombre tone as he voewed to bring the perpetrator of the crime to justice.
‘These terrorizing acts are despicable and have no place in our country,’ he said speaking from prepared remarks.
He expressed gratitude to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies for arresting the suspect in a bomb plot against prominent Democrats and other critics of him.
However childhood friends of Cesar Altier Sayoc painted a different picture of his character, saying he was a well-liked, softly-spoken child who never got into trouble.
David Templer, who remembered him from school, told DailyMail.com: ‘I don’t think you will find anyone that knew him back in the day who will suggest this was expected.
Sayoc plastered his van windows (above) with stickers proclaiming support for Trump and attacking Democrats
‘Cesar was not weird or off in any way that I recall. He and his sister we’re both nice and well-liked. But, like I said, things can change in 40 years… assuming the Feds got it right.’
A former classmate, who asked not to be named, added: ‘All I can tell you is he was a nice boy and I played soccer with I’m in high school.
‘He never was in trouble when we were in high school he was a good kid. He had a younger sister Sabrina.
Sheri Holtzman Tapia wrote on Facebook: ‘I remember him being nice and kind of quiet.’
Jamie Grapin Rubenstein added: ‘Super nice guy played soccer.’
And Stuart Collins agreed, writing: ‘I’m shocked too. Really soft spoken nice guy. wtf happened?’
‘He was a nice kid, very quiet,’ Cindy Krantz Grafman added. ‘I cannot believe it!’
Federal investigators initially tied Sayoc to the bomb spree through a fingerprint on the package addressed to US Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat.
Friends of Sayoc said he was a well-liked and pleasant child at school . He posted this picture of himself as a child on Facebook recently
Sayoc is charged with five federal crimes, including interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against a former president
FBI Director Chris Wray said at a press conference on Friday afternoon that investigators subsequently recovered DNA from two other packages, which they linked to a sample taken from Sayoc in a prior arrest.
Sayoc was convicted of a threat to ‘throw, place, project or discharge any destructive device’ in 2002 in Dade County, Florida, after he threatened to blow up a utility company for shutting off his electricity.
He has other prior convictions on felony charges including grand theft and drug possession with intent to distribute, but has never served prison time.
The packages sent to prominent Democrats this week contained pipe bombs, none of which detonated. Law enforcement sources believe they were where either ineptly constructed or not intended to detonate.
Sayoc is charged with five federal crimes, including interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against a former president, threatening interstate communications, and assaulting current and former federal officers.