WASHINGTON -- Cesar Sayoc is an amateur body builder and former male stripper, a loner with a long arrest record who showed little interest in politics until Donald Trump came along.
On Friday, he was identified by authorities as the Florida man who put pipe bombs in small manila envelopes, affixed six stamps and sent them to some of Trump's most prominent critics.
Records show Sayoc, 56, of Aventura, has a history of financial problems and extensive record of past arrests, including a stint served on probation for making a bomb threat.
Florida voter records show he first registered in March 2016 as a Republican and cast a ballot in that November's heated presidential election. Sayoc's social media accounts are peppered with memes supporting Trump, denigrating Democrats, and promoting conspiracy theories.
At the auto parts store in Plantation, Fla., where Sayoc was swarmed by officers and arrested Friday, authorities towed away a white van covered with stickers supporting Trump and criticizing media outlets that included CNN, the news channel also targeted by a mail bomb this week.
Debra Gureghian, the general manager of New River Pizza and Fresh Kitchen in Fort Lauderdale, said Sayoc worked as a delivery truck driver for several months until he quit in January.
"He was crazed, that's the best word for him," she said. "There was something really off with him."
The white van he drove to deliver pizzas was covered in disturbing images, she said, so the restaurant required him to park it on the side where it could not be seen.
"It was puppets with their heads cut off, mannequins with their heads cut off, Ku Klux Klan, a black person being hung, anti-gay symbols, torchings, bombings you name it, it was all over his truck," Gureghian said.
He was kept on because he did his work reliably, and good drivers are hard to find, she said. But he disturbed his co-workers with racist comments and texts.
"He was very angry and angry at the world, at blacks, Jews, gays," she said. "He always talked about 'if I had complete autonomy none of these gays or these blacks would survive.'"
A lawsuit in which Sayoc was deposed said he had been a manager at a strip club called Stir Crazy for 35 years. In that same deposition, Sayoc claimed he was also a wrestler, a Chippendales dancer, a professional soccer player in Milan, and an arena football player in Arizona.
"I know the guy is a lunatic," Lenny Altieri, Sayoc's cousin, said Friday. "He has been a loner." He confirmed that Sayoc had been a stripper.
Court records in Florida show that Sayoc was arrested in 2002 and served a year of probation for a felony charge of threatening to throw or place a bomb.
Ronald Lowy, a Miami attorney, said Sayoc became frustrated about a lack of service and told a Florida Power and Light employee "something to the effect that you're not taking care of my problem and I bet you would if I threw a bomb at you." Lowy said Sayoc showed no ability at the time to back up his threat with any bomb-making expertise.
Florida records show Sayoc was also convicted in 2014 for grand theft and misdemeanor theft of less than $300, and in 2013 for battery. In 2004, he faced several felony charges for unlawful possession of a synthetic anabolic steroid often used to help build muscles. He also had several arrests for theft in the 1990s and faced a felony charge for obtaining fraudulent refunds and a misdemeanor count of tampering with physical evidence.
Lowy said he recalled that Sayoc also had a run-in with authorities over possession of steroids and another case in Broward County where he was charged with possessing a fake driver's license after altering his birthdate to make him appear younger.
Lowy said Sayoc told him his father was American Indian.
More recently, Sayoc described himself on social media as being affiliated with the Seminole Warriors boxing club.
However, his cousin said Sayoc's mother was Italian and his biological father was Filipino, and his parents separated when he was a young boy.
Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, said there is no evidence to show that Sayoc worked for the tribe or was a tribal member.
Sayoc's name is listed on business records tied to dry cleaning and catering businesses. Records also suggest he had recent financial problems, including losing his home in foreclosure in 2009 and filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in 2012.
A Twitter account that appears to belong to Sayoc, hardrock2016, includes memes denouncing Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, including a photo of billionaire political donor George Soros made to look like he's holding a puppet that resembles Gillum.
Other posts called Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg "fake phony." He posted memes repeatedly attacking Hogg in July.
In June, he praised Trump in a birthday message saying: "Happy Birthday President Donald J. Trump the greatest result President ever."
Information for this article was contributed by Michael Biesecker, Stephen Braun, Michael Schneider, Ken Sweet, Tom Foreman Jr. and Jonathan Drew of The Associated Press; and by Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Matt Zapotosky, Mark Berman, Annie Gowen, Lori Rosza, Shawn Boburg, Lindsey Bever, Andrew Ba Tran, Alex Horton, Abby Ohlheiser, Jennifer Jenkins, Julie Tate and Alice Crites of The Washington Post.
A Section on 10/27/2018