US mail bomb suspect charged with five crimes – official

A suspect has been charged with five federal crimes in connection with more than a dozen suspicious packages sent in a US mail bombing spree, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said today.

The charges include inter-state transportation of an explosive, mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents and threatening inter-state communications, Sessions told a news conference.

FBI chief Christopher Wray confirmed the suspect is 56-year-old Florida resident Cesar Sayoc.

If put on trial and convicted, the suspect faces up to 48 years in prison, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice.

Thirteen improvised explosive devices were sent to different individuals in the mail bombing spree, including a PVC pipe, a small clock, a battery and wiring, Wray said.

He said it was “too early” to publicly identify a motive for the bombing spree, while also warning there “may be” further packages.

“It’s too early at this stage for us to be discussing motivation in this particular case,” Wray said. “We’re concerned about people committing acts of violence under any motivation.”

According to pictures posted on social media and broadcast by US television, a van impounded in Florida in connection with the suspect, Cesar Sayoc, was covered in stickers denouncing Democrats and supportive of Donald Trump.

The targets of the bombing spree were all prominent Trump critics.

– AFP

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