Volume 84, Issue 9 Web Edition
SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
October 31, 2018
Cesar Altieri Sayoc
Former BC student and soccer player arrested,
suspected of mailing pipe bombs to Democrats
By Zach Dickerson and John Padgett
The story began to break early on Friday that the FBI had apprehended a
Florida man in connection with the mail bombs that had been sent earlier
that week to prominent Democrats, including Barack Obama, Bill and
Hillary Clinton, and Vice President Joe Biden.
CNN, the New York Times and other national news organizations re
ported the arrest of Cesar Sayoc, 56, an ardent Trump supporter, as the
person whom they suspected of creating pipe bombs as part of an apparent
attempt to silence critics of President Donald Trump. Immediately, report
ers began digging for information about Sayoc, including his political
leanings, his contacts and recent whereabouts, and his past.
By early afternoon, it had become clear that his past included Brevard
College.
As news began reporting Sayoc’s connections to the college in the early
1980s, a news release from the BC Olfice of Communications at 1:48
p.m. confirmed that Sayoc had indeed been a student and member of the
soccer team at Brevard College for three semesters, from the fall of 1980
through the fall of 1981. At the time, the college was a two-year college,
so Sayoc would have had only a single semester remaining.
Over the weekend, more information began to surface about Sayoc from
not just when he was a student here but in the decades since, including
visits to an awards dinner to honor his former coach in 2015 and other
visits to Brevard and western North Carolina as recently as last year.
The manhunt began on the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 22, when a pipe
bomb was found in a package delivered to billionaire activist George So
ros. Packages that appeared to be bombs were also delivered to the homes
of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the morning of Wednesday, Oct.
24, and that afternoon a package was delivered to CNN’s New York head
quarters that not only contained a pipe bomb, but also a suspicious white
powder, prompting the evacuation of CNN’s studios for several hours.
Other people who received packages were Maxine Waters, a U.S.
Representative for California’s 43rd congressional district; former CIA
director John Brennan; New Jersey Senator Cory Booker; former director
of national intelligence James Clapper; and actor Robert DeNiro.
According to a complaint signed by FBI Special Agent David Brown,
the packages to Obama, Brennan, Soros and Waters each contained a
picture of the individual with a red “X” marked on them.
Many of the packages had a return address to Debbie Wasserman
Schultz, U.S. Representative for Florida’s 23rd congressional district,
though her name was misspelled on the packages. Some of the packages
were returned to her address.
According to media reports, investigators were able to pull a fingerprint
from the envelope to Waters and they found DNA on two of the devices
which led them to find and arrest Sayoc. Authorities found Sayoc living
in his van outside of an auto supply store in Plantation, Florida where
they arrested him at around 10:30 a.m. Friday.
Sayoc’s van was covered with pro-Trump stickers and also had a sticker
that read “CNN SUCKS” and “DISHONEST MEDIA” along with one
that talks about “draining the swamp.” There were also many stickers that
depicted people with red crosshairs on them, including Hillary Clinton,
CNN’s Van Jones, filmmaker Michael Moore, Green Party presidential
candidate Jill Stein and what appears to be Barack Obama riding a tricycle.
The van also had a Brevard College Soccer sticker on it.
According to numerous media reports, Sayoc has had a long criminal
history, including a past arrest for making a bomb threat in 2002 and
committing domestic violence against his grandmother.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Friday afternoon
See 'Cesar Sayoc' on page 4
Cesar Sayoc, second from left in the back row, was one of the “Crunch Bunch”
playing defense on the faii 1981 BC soccer team, according to the caption in the
1982 yearbook, “Pertelote.” See more Sayoc photos on pages 4-5.