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The so-called MAGAbomber—a Florida man accused of mailing explosive devices to high-profile liberals—may have taken an interest in Oregon politics.
Cesar Altieri Sayoc was arrested Friday as a suspect in a string of mail-bombings which began on the weekend.
Among the early accounts of Sayoc is his obsession with President Trump and his heavy diet of extremist right-wing media. Pictures of Sayoc's van show it was festooned with pro-Trump material covering the panels and windows. A Twitter account associated with Sayoc was loaded down with threats, MAGA memes, and hits on the conservative movement's stock villains: George Soros, the Clintons, and CNN.
But on Oct. 9, Sayoc sent out a tweet targeting Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.
Sayoc's text read "Another far liberal left Democrat Gov. Oregon exposed former campaign MGR corruption fraud scams, money laundering."
Attached to the tweet were four images. One was a collage of Massachusetts mugshots in May 2017. One was a picture purporting to show anti-Trump protesters "destroying America" (in 2016, Snopes traced the image to 2012 protests in Greece).
Another, though, was a still from a Project Veritas sting which caught former Brown staffer, Michael Kolenc, on a hidden camera airing allegations about Brown and her then Chief of Staff, Kristen Leonard. (Brown fired Kolenc in October 2016.)
Another image attached to the tweet is a meme created in 2017 by the Taxpayer Association of Oregon, mimicking a bingo game, and highlighting the many resignations from Brown's staff. The meme has been published repeatedly on the Catalyst Oregon website, and first appeared there in January 2017. (Beneath the image, viewers were urged, "Please email, Facebook, Tweet & share this post.")
The tweets about Brown were among hundreds by Sayoc featuring right-wing memes. They show how an online right wing ecosystem uses Democratic politicians from around the country to fuel endless outrage.