Cesar Sayoc, the man officials say mailed at least 14 pipe bombs to prominent Democrat politicians and news outlets had his first day in court earlier this week.
According to a report from Reuters, Sayoc, a 56-year-old man who was living in Florida, has officially been charged with five separate federal crimes and faces a prison sentence of 58 years. While in federal court in Miami, Sayoc was denied bail and will have to wait until Friday to go before the judge again.
Despite the charges of “interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents, threatening interstate communications, and assaulting federal officers,” Sayoc’s defense attorneys told reporters waiting outside of the courthouse that the prosecution’s case was “flimsy.”
“All there is this thin amount of evidence that has been alleged in that complaint,” said Sayoc’s attorney Jamie Benjamin, who also told reporters that his client was already being tried in the court of public opinion.
Perhaps more surprising is that Sayoc, before his life of terrorism, once worked as a stripper. According to a report from the fact checking site Snopes.com, Sayoc performed strip dances in the 1990s, and was hired by promoters to perform frequently.
“I would hire him to send him to do these shows,” said Tony Valentine, an Ohio-based event promoter who claims to have previously hired Sayoc in the 90s, while speaking to reporters from the Washington Examiner. “He would just go do a strip show and leave. He was a stripper. He was dancing for a guy out in Oklahoma too.”
Sayoc’s former life as a male stripper aside, authorities think he may have planned to wreak much more havoc than he was able to. According to a report from NPR, Sayoc had a “list of more than 100 names” of possible targets. The kill-list contained the names of several politicians and journalists; however, law enforcement officials have not released the list at this time.
Although it may be hard to believe the story of Cesar Sayoc cannot get weirder, filmmaker Michael Moore took to Twitter over the weekend to inform his followers that his crew had filmed Sayoc holding a sign during a rally for newly elected president Trump. According to Moore, his team were shooting footage of the rally in Melbourne, Florida for a part in what would become his latest film “Fahrenheit 11/9.”
Cesar Sayoc, the man officials say mailed at least 14 pipe bombs to prominent Democrat politicians and news outlets had his first day in court earlier this week.
According to a report from Reuters, Sayoc, a 56-year-old man who was living in Florida, has officially been charged with five separate federal crimes and faces a prison sentence of 58 years. While in federal court in Miami, Sayoc was denied bail and will have to wait until Friday to go before the judge again.
Despite the charges of “interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents, threatening interstate communications, and assaulting federal officers,” Sayoc’s defense attorneys told reporters waiting outside of the courthouse that the prosecution’s case was “flimsy.”
“All there is this thin amount of evidence that has been alleged in that complaint,” said Sayoc’s attorney Jamie Benjamin, who also told reporters that his client was already being tried in the court of public opinion.
Perhaps more surprising is that Sayoc, before his life of terrorism, once worked as a stripper. According to a report from the fact checking site Snopes.com, Sayoc performed strip dances in the 1990s, and was hired by promoters to perform frequently.
“I would hire him to send him to do these shows,” said Tony Valentine, an Ohio-based event promoter who claims to have previously hired Sayoc in the 90s, while speaking to reporters from the Washington Examiner. “He would just go do a strip show and leave. He was a stripper. He was dancing for a guy out in Oklahoma too.”
Sayoc’s former life as a male stripper aside, authorities think he may have planned to wreak much more havoc than he was able to. According to a report from NPR, Sayoc had a “list of more than 100 names” of possible targets. The kill-list contained the names of several politicians and journalists; however, law enforcement officials have not released the list at this time.
Although it may be hard to believe the story of Cesar Sayoc cannot get weirder, filmmaker Michael Moore took to Twitter over the weekend to inform his followers that his crew had filmed Sayoc holding a sign during a rally for newly elected president Trump. According to Moore, his team were shooting footage of the rally in Melbourne, Florida for a part in what would become his latest film “Fahrenheit 11/9.”
According to Moore, the footage of Sayoc was ultimately not used in the final cut of his movie.
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