The man who was arrested on Friday for allegedly sending potential explosives to high-profile Democrats and the CNN headquarters in New York City was previously reported to Twitter for sending threatening messages to a political commentator who appeared on Fox News.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, authorities arrested Cesar Sayoc, 56, in Plantation, Florida, late Friday morning after tracking his whereabouts via his cellphone. Sayoc reportedly has a criminal record that includes at least one threat to detonate an explosive. A Twitter account appearing to belong to Sayoc, which has since been suspended, contained recent messages of vitriol towards billionaire philanthropist George Soros, the first reported recipient of the potentially explosive mailer this week.
On Friday afternoon, Rochelle Ritchie, a former congressional press secretary and political commentator who has appeared on Fox News, posted screenshots of threatening message sent to her by an account believed to belong to Sayoc, and Twitter’s response after she reported the threat.
Hey @Twitter remember when I reported the guy who was making threats towards me after my appearance on @FoxNews and you guys sent back a bs response about how you didn’t find it that serious. Well guess what it’s the guy who has been sending #bombs to high profile politicians!!!! pic.twitter.com/xBY8FMbqnq
— R O C H E L L E (@RochelleRitchie) October 26, 2018
Ritchie posted a screenshot of a message exchange between herself and a since-suspended account previously reported to be Sayoc’s. One of those messages reads: “So you like make threats.We Unconquered Seminole tribe will answer your threats.We have nice silent Air boat ride for u here on our land Everglades Swamp .We will see you 4 sure.Hug your loved ones real close every time you leave you home. [sic]”
As reported by The Cut, Sayoc sent another message with an image that appeared to have been taken from Ritchie’s Instagram account, and an image of an alligator alongside a partially eaten body.
Also included in Ritchie’s message is a screenshot of a response from Twitter dated October 11, 2018, presumably in response to her report of the threats. The message reads, in part:
“Thank you for your recent report. We have reviewed your report carefully and found there was no violation of the Twitter rules against abusive behavior.”
The account believed to belong to Sayoc was suspended as of Friday afternoon. Ritchie did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
