Friday, 24 May 2024

‘MAGA bomber’: I didn’t know pipe bombs could hurt anyone

A Florida man who last week pleaded guilty to sending pipe bombs to prominent Democratic politicians and other targets says in a new court filing that he didn’t know the devices could actually hurt anyone.

In a hand-written letter to the Manhattan federal judge presiding over his case, “MAGA bomber” Cesar Sayoc, 65, acknowledged that he pleaded guilty to 65 counts — which included charges of using weapons of mass destruction — at his March 21 hearing.

But he said that when he was asked if he knew whether the devices could harm anyone, his lawyer told him to say, “Yes.”

Sayoc is now arguing that he gave that answer under “extreme emotional circumstances.

“In my heart I wanted to say no,” Sayoc said in the letter to Judge Jed Rakoff.

Prosecutors are seeking life in prison for Sayoc, who is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 12.

The defendant had been living in a van plastered with pro-Trump images and messages and others attacking the president’s critics, including ones that showed red crosshairs over former Presidents Obama and Clinton.

The dashboard was covered with baseball caps including some bearing Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” slogan.

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