Cesar Sayoc, the The Florida man who pled guilty to mailing 16 package bombs to news networks and public figures he perceived as enemies of Donald Trump, may or may not be insane.
His defense team has today filed a letter to Judge Jed Rakoff regarding Sayoc's mental health. You can read it here.
They address whether he should be ordered to submit to a psychological evaluation by the court.
Basically, they present a new Twinkie defense.
Sayoc's lawyers seem to be saying that President Donald Trump and steroid use kinda made him do it.
Earlier this month in court, Sayoc told the judge the improvised explosive devices he sent to former President Obama, Secretary Hillary Clinton, actor Robert De Niro and CNN "hoax, decoy devices" that were 'not ever meant to work.'
USA Today's Brad Heath breaks it down:
Cesar Sayoc, the man who pleaded guilty to mailing explosives to Trump critics and the press, says in a new letter that he "was on the front lines of war between right & left." pic.twitter.com/LCJYFkQv02
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 23, 2019
Sayoc says he attended a Trump campaign rally and "it was fun, it became like my new found drug." pic.twitter.com/likra969GD
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 23, 2019
Sayoc describes politics as "dirty, ruthless, deadly," and says it is something "I wished had never come along into my life." pic.twitter.com/OsbKRwAWmT
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 23, 2019
Also, Sayoc's lawyers say that the court shouldn't order a psychological exam be conducted. They're submitting two opinions, one focused on how his "extensive steroid use likely affected his mental health." https://t.co/MWrmlIZWeB
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 23, 2019
Cesar Sayoc's rhetoric is extremely familiar-sounding… the battle between left and right… the idea of a mayor standing police down so leftists could commit violence… the idea that the Democratic party is promoting leftist insurrection… pic.twitter.com/j4GGUQWnSG
— Jason Wilson (@jason_a_w) April 23, 2019
Wow. MAGA bomber Cesar Sayoc claims to have been at the same abortive Chicago rally I was at, which Trump canceled out of fear of the many counter-protestors who were in the crowd. I wrote about it for @RollingStone at the time: https://t.co/UxeXiuPEvR https://t.co/xS9O87q2D8
— Dan O'Sullivan (@Bro_Pair) April 23, 2019
Cesar Sayoc's social media accounts read like a blueprint for the radicalization of an alleged domestic terrorist.https://t.co/lOryxZnTJZ
— Chris Boyette (@Chris__Boyette) April 17, 2019
PHOTO: Reuters. 'A van with windows covered in pro-Trump and anti-Democrat stickers, which was taken into custody on Oct. 26, 2018, during an investigation into a series of parcel bombs, is seen in Hollywood, Fla. on April 6, 2018.'
[via @BigCasesBot]
