US President Donald Trump on Friday described the booby-trapped packages sent to senior Democratic Party officials as "a terrorist act" that deserved "the maximum penalty stipulated by law."
"These acts of terrorism must be prosecuted and punished with the maximum penalty stipulated by law," Trump said during a rally in North Carolina.
"Political violence must never be allowed in the United States, and I will try my best to stop it," the president was quoted by AFP as saying.
"As you know, the suspect was arrested in federal custody," he said, shortly after the US Justice Department announced the arrest of a man suspected of sending at least 13 booby-trapped booby traps to anti-Republican leaders.
Later, the US Department of Justice announced that the Public Prosecutor's Office, named Cesar Sajuk, had charged five federal charges, one of which was "sending illegal explosives."
The ministry said the maximum sentence for these charges reaches 48 years' imprisonment.
Last Wednesday, the US Secret Service intercepted explosive packages on its way to the White House, former US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The latest packages were sent to Democratic Senator Corrie Boker, according to the FBI.
