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Oct. 26, 2018 / 4:46 PM GMT
By Adam Edelman
President Donald Trump on Friday praised law enforcement for the quick arrest of pipe bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc Jr. and vowed that he and anyone else possibly involved would be prosecuted to the “fullest extent of the law.”
Trump, speaking at the 2018 Young Black Leadership Summit at the White House, called the sending of the bombs a “despicable” act that has “no place in our country” and vowed that “swift and certain justice” would be delivered.
“We must never allow political violence to take root in America. We cannot let it happen. I am committed to do everything in my power as president to stop it and stop it now,” he said.
“Americans must unify. And we must show the world we are united in peace and harmony,” he added.
Trump’s comments came less than an hour after authorities said they had taken Sayoc into custody and would charge him in connection with the series of bombs found this week addressed to critics of the president.
His remarks marked a notable contrast from the tone he struck in tweets earlier in the day, when he appeared to suggestthat the timing of the “bomb stuff” was disrupting Republican momentum ahead of the midterm elections. He also criticized CNN “and others” for allegedly “blaming” him for the wave of suspicious packages discovered in recent days.
Before Trump took the stage at the White House Friday, the crowd chanted “CNN sucks” during comments by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
Sayoc is expected to be charged Friday in connection with packages received or intercepted that contained pipe bombs that were addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden, actor Robert De Niro, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., former Attorney General Eric Holder, former CIA Director John Brennan, former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The package sent to Brennan was addressed to CNN’s offices in New York and led to an hours-long evacuation of the building Wednesday. Brennan does not work for CNN, but is a senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.
Two more packages containing explosive devices were discovered Friday, one in Florida addressed to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and another in New York addressed to former U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, officials said.
The package mailed to Clapper was addressed to CNN’s New York offices, according to a picture obtained by NBC New York, and was discovered at a postal facility in midtown Manhattan.