The FBI is looking into a suspicious package sent to billionaire President Trump critic Tom Steyer – a Democratic donor who has funded campaigns against the US leader.
CNN reports Steyer, 61, was sent a package in his name that was intercepted in Burlingame, California.
‘We’re thankful that everyone we work with at NextGen America and Need to Impeach is safe – that’s always our first priority, and will continue to be our first priority,’ Steyer said in a statement.
FBI is looking into a suspicious package sent to billionaire President Trump critic Tom Steyer (pictured January 2018) Friday
‘We’re thankful that everyone we work with at NextGen America and Need to Impeach is safe – that’s always our first priority, and will continue to be our first priority,’ Steyer said in statement
A law enforcement source says they are investigating whether the package is similar to others that were mailed out before they brought the suspect in Friday morning.
Explosives technicians were on scene on at a USPS location on Rollins Road but there is no threat to public safety it has been reported.
It marked the 13th package of its kind to be found this week in connection with the pipe bombs scare.
The suspect in the mail bombing spree targeting critics of President Donald Trump was identified as Cesar Altier Sayoc and faces up to 58 years in prison US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said during a press conference.
‘We will not tolerate such lawlessness, especially political violence,’ he said about the man charged with five federal crimes.
Sayoc, 56, was taken into custody on Friday morning in Plantation, Florida in connection with the 12 suspicious packages that had so far been discovered at the time.
The suspect was a prolific tweeter who repeatedly sent threats to celebrities and political figures like Joe Biden, Jim Carrey, and Ron Howard.
According to Sayoc’s Facebook page, he is a Trump fan who posted pictures and videos of himself at one of the President’s rallies in October 2016.
MSNC showed the scene as investigators looked into the suspected pipe bomb Friday
Explosives technicians were on scene on at a USPS location on Rollins Road but there is no threat to public safety it has been reported
A law enforcement source says they are investigating whether the package is similar to others that were mailed out before they brought the suspect in
He posted a photograph of himself wearing a MAGA hat in front of the US Capitol in 2017.
Sayoc was convicted of a threat to ‘throw, place, project or discharge any destructive device’ in 2002 in Dade County, Florida, court records show.
He has other prior convictions on felony charges including grand theft and drug possession with intent to distribute, but has never served prison time.
Cesar Altier Sayoc was taken into custody on Friday morning in Plantation, Florida in connection with the bombs
He claims to be Native American, and according to a picture posted on his social media page, he is a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Other information from his LinkedIn page suggests that Sayoc is Filipino.
The profile includes dubious claims that could not be immediately independently confirmed, including that Sayoc is a promoter for male striptease troupe Chippendales, and that he is enrolled in a veterinary medicine program.
‘Career decision of becoming a Horse Doctor was always a love for animals, which were here first and never do anything to anyone. And respect all living things,’ Sayoc wrote on the profile in a grammatical style that appears typical for him. ‘My family very sound Sayoc name in Medical field.’
A van impounded in Paradise, believed to be Sayoc’s, was covered densely with stickers expressing pro-Trump sentiments and denigrating prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who were among those who had pipe bombs addressed to them this week.
Another sticker proclaimed ‘CNN Sucks.’ The cable network had two of the suspicious packages addressed to its headquarters in Manhattan.
He posted a photograph of himself wearing a MAGA hat in front of the US Capitol in 2017
Sayoc is Native American, and according to social media posts, he is a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida
Sayoc is seen at a Trump rally. He was arrested on Friday in connection with a string of bombs sent through the mail
According to Sayoc’s Facebook page, he is a Trump fan who posted pictures of himself wearing a ‘MAGA’ hat
Sayoc is seen at an event supporting Trump and wearing a ‘MAGA’ hat in this photo posted to Facebook in October 2016
A driver snapped a photo of this van, believed to belong to Sayoc. The van is seen covered in stickers expressing support for Trump, and disdain for his liberal critics
The person who took the photos was not aware of the connection to the investigation, but noted the odd amount of stickers
In a Facebook post a year ago, Sayoc shared a photograph of Governor Rick Scott and Donald Trump, writing: ‘The greatest Governor in Country Fla Rick Scott and great friend of We Unconquered Seminole Tribe . Trump Trump Trump’
He shared bodybuilding pictures and appears to have worked in a strip club.
He expressed his dislike of Hillary Clinton and posted stories about incidents of Islamic terrorism.
Trump addressed the arrest in remarks at the White House, saying: ‘We must never allow political violence to take root in America.’ He promised ‘swift and certain justice’ and said the suspect would be prosecuted ‘to the fullest extend of the law.’
A Twitter account that appears to belong to Sayoc includes repeated attacks on billionaire George Soros and praise for Trump and other Republicans.
The tweets accuse Soros of paying off a victim from the Parkland mass shooting and accusing Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, a Democrat, of being a Soros puppet.
The account includes anti-Gillum memes, with one including the caption ‘$500,000 SOROS PUPPET.’ The Oct. 24 posting includes a photo of Soros doctored to look like he’s holding a puppet meant to resemble Gillum.
The suspect was arrested in front of an AutoZone store in Plantation, a police source tells DailyMail.com.
Michelle Taylor, a nurse at the Senior Medical Associates clinic across the street from the AutoZone, saw police taking a vehicle believed to be Sayoc’s into custody.
‘We’ve been in the office for an hour and we’re so nervous,’ she said. ‘The police were surrounding some kind of a van. Thank god we’re done with our patients for the day and there’s only two of us in here.’
A witness who works at Marlins Insurance said dozens of police cars descended on the area around State Road 7 and SW 8th Street about 10am, a few feet away from her office.
‘It’s really bad,’ the woman said by telephone. She declined to give her name.
‘We heard a loud bang, like a bomb exploding. Police officers who told us to stay inside said they were arrested the guy who’s been sending bombs all over the place. It’s pretty scary but we’re inside trying to get some work done.’
The suspect is reportedly a former resident of New York who is living in Florida.
The 12 mail bombs are all believed to have been handled by a regional mail sorting facility in southern Florida.
FBI agents search for clues and evidences at the AutoZone Store in Plantation on Friday after arresting Sayoc outside
Members of the press crowd outside the AutoZone parts store where two FBI agents are interviewing a store employee in Plantation, Florida. A suspect was arrested in this store on in connection to the packages containing pipe bombs
Sayoc posted many pictures of himself in strip clubs, and may have worked in one. He is seen with an unidentified woman
Sayoc is seen with unidentified women left and right above. He appears to frequent strip clubs and may have worked at one
The suspect Sayoc posted these photos of himself at the gym lifting weights. He appears to be a bodybuilder
Sayoc graduated 1980 from North Miami Beach Senior High, according to a yearbook entry.
His grandmother lived in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, according to a 2006 obituary.
Among Sayoc’s most serious criminal history includes a 1994 incident in which his grandmother Viola accused him of domestic violence. She sought a restraining order at the time but a judge then dropped the charges two weeks later for reasons that are unclear.
The suspect is known to law enforcement, and has a history of making terroristic threats to judges, sources said.
Heavy police activity was seen in Plantation, Florida, a town to the west of Fort Lauderdale and directly south of Sunrise, the location of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s office, which the bombs listed as a return address.
Police impounded a white panel van that is believed to be connected to the investigation.
The Department of Justice announced a press conference for 2.30pm at which further details are expected to be available.
An FBI officer prepares a van to be towed in Plantation in connection with the pipe bombs and suspicious packages
FBI agents covering a van after the tarp fell off as it was transported from Plantation on Friday
A van covered in blue tarp is towed by FBI investigators on Friday in Plantation in connection with the pipe bombs
Sayoc expressed an interest in bodybuilding and posted photos that appear to be from his youth
Sayoc posted a number of memes to Facebook criticizing Obama and Hillary Clinton, who both had bombs addressed to them
Earlier in the day, the investigators said they had found two new packages believed to be part of the mail bombing spree, addressed to Senator Cory Booker and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
The package to Booker was found on Thursday night at a mail sorting facility in Florida, and the package addressed to Clapper was found at a postal facility in Manhattan on Friday.
The two new packages marked the 11th and 12th suspected mail bombs in a spree that has targeted critics of Trump.
Trump’s first public response to the latest suspicious packages was a tweet at 10.19am reading: ‘Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this ‘Bomb’ stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows – news not talking politics. Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!’
The FBI found two new packages believed to be part of the mail bombing spree, addressed to Senator Cory Booker (left) and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (right)
The suspicious package (above) addressed to James Clapper at the Time Warner Center was intercepted by postal inspectors at a Manhattan sorting facility on Friday morning
NYPD’s Total Containment vessel arrives as law enforcement respond to the scene of a suspicious package at a postal facility on Friday in New York
The Total Containment Vessel is used to transport explosive devices and is designed to contain powerful blasts
The special NYPD vehicle is seen transporting the package addressed to James Clapper to a secure facility in the Bronx
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller was on scene during an investigation of a bomb addressed to James Clapper at a US Post Office on W 52nd Street on Friday in Manhattan
FDNY set up a command post at an investigation of a bomb at a postal sorting facility in Midtown Manhattan on Friday
A police dog assists in a suspicious package response at a postal facility in Manhattan on Friday morning
Postal workers stand on the street after evacuating a sorting facility during a report of a suspicious package in Manhattan
Postal workers stand on the street after evacuating a Midtown Manhattan postal facility on Friday
The facility was evacuated after inspectors intercepted a suspicious package addressed to James Clapper
The map above shows the locations of 12 suspicious packages that have all been linked to a mail bombing spree
The package to Clapper was addressed to CNN’s headquarters in the Time Warner Center in Midtown Manhattan, but was intercepted before delivery.
A photo of the package showed that it matched notable characteristics of the previous mail bombs, none of which have exploded.
Clapper joined CNN as a contributor after stepping down as the nation’s most senior intelligence official last year.
‘At least they got the correct spelling of my name and they got the right network,’ Clapper said in remarks to CNN, referring to a mail bomb sent to CNN earlier this week and addressed to ‘John Brenan’.
John Brennan, a former CIA director, is a contributor for MSNBC.
‘This is definitely domestic terrorism, no question about it in my mind,’ Clapper said in an interview with the cable network. ‘This is not going to silence the administration´s critics.’
Clapper said that he had been on vacation with his wife, and had warned the neighbors who were collecting his mail to be on the lookout for suspicious packages as the mail bomb spree developed this week.
Like the other targets in the mail bomb spree, Clapper has been harshly critical of Trump. In a speech last year, he said that Trump was guilty of ‘ignorance or disrespect’.
First respondents are seen on the scene where suspicious package was found in Midtown. There were no reports of injuries and the stretcher is believed to be a precaution
Police respond to a report of a suspicious package at a postal facility in Midtown Manhattan on Friday morning
Police respond to a report of a suspicious package in the Manhattan borough of New York
Police swarmed the area outside a Manhattan postal facility after a package was found
The package intercepted on Friday was addressed to Clapper care of CNN, but was spotted by postal inspectors at a sorting facility before delivery.
The NYPD bomb squad was on scene at the postal facility at West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue on Friday morning.
The NYPD’s Total Containment Vessel was spotted at the scene by about 9.30am.
Streets in the area were closed off and postal workers were seen waiting on the sidewalks after the facility was evacuated.
The containment vehicle departed the area at 10am transporting the suspected bomb to a secure police facility in Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx.
Police respond to a report of a suspicious package addressed to James Clapper in Manhattan
Streets were shut down and the facility evacuated after a suspicious package was found
Police respond to a report of a suspicious package in the Manhattan borough of New York on Friday
On Thursday, a local police bomb squad and canine units joined federal investigators to examine a sprawling U.S. mail distribution center at Opa-Locka, northwest of Miami, Miami-Dade County police said.
Investigators believe that all of the suspicious packages were sorted at the facility, which processes mail regionally in South Florida.
It was at the Opa-Locka facility that the 11th bomb was discovered, addressed to Senator Booker.
Booker is a Democrat from New Jersey. Like Clapper and the other targets of the mail bombs in the recent spree, he is an outspoken critic of Trump.
The identity and motives of the bomber have not been revealed, however, with the FBI saying it is pursuing the case as the agency’s highest priority.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombs.
A police car sits outside New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker’s office in Camden, New Jersey on Friday. The FBI says a suspicious package addressed to Booker has been recovered in Florida and is similar in appearance to recent mail bombs
A police dog is loaded into an SUV outside New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker’s office in Camden, New Jersey
A police officer and dog are shown outside a postal facility on Thursday in Opa-locka, Florida. The search uncovered a suspicious package addressed to Senator Cory Booker
Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told MSNBC on Friday that the mail bombs were stoking fear across the county and that U.S. leaders, including Trump, must reassure the public.
Elected officials and others need to say that this is not who we are as a country, Warner said. ‘That would be a heck of a lot stronger if that message also came from the White House.’
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said that Florida appeared to be the starting point for at least some of the bomb shipments.
‘Some of the packages went through the mail. They originated, some of them, from Florida,’ she said during an interview with Fox News Channel on Thursday.
‘I am confident that this person or people will be brought to justice.’