Some facts about the man who wanted to kill Donald Trump at a rally

19-year-old British man, Michael Steven Sandford drove from California to Las Vegas to attempt to kill Donald Trump at a rally at the Treasure Island Casino on June 18, according to the Secret Service. 

He tried to take a gun from a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer to assassinate the Republican presidential candidate, but failed in his attempt. 

He has been charged to court and is accused of committing an act of violence on restricted grounds, according to the criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Michael Sandford told authorities he drove from California with intent to harm Trump, said Secret Service Special Agent Joseph Hall wrote in the criminal complaint. He arrived in Las Vegas on June 16 and went to the Battlefield Vegas gun range to learn how to use a gun the day before the rally, the complaint said. 

He said he fired a 9mm Glock, which was the first time he had shot a gun, according to the complaint. He fired about 20 rounds during the training.

Sandford also told Secret Service Special Agent Jason Swierkowski that he had been planning to kill Trump for a year “but decided to act on this occasion because he finally felt confident about trying it,” court documents state.

The full court complaint is below, after this text.

Sandford struck up a conversation with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Ameel Jacob, claiming that he wanted to get an autograph from Trump, according to court documents. He then reached towards the officer’s weapon to pull it out of the holster, which was not locked, the Secret Service says. Sandford was then arrested. He was dragged out of the event by police.

Sandford will be back in court on July 5 at 4 p.m. for a preliminary examination and faces a 10-year jail term if found guilty.

Although Donald Trump is protected by the Secret Service, Politico reports that Trump has his own “mercenary force” that has employed aggressive tactics to stop protesters during his rallies. These private security officers have been seen wearing street clothes, just keeping an eye out for protesters.

There were around 1,500 people at the Las Vegas rally, according to the Associated Press. Every one of them had to go through metal detectors overseen by the Secret Service and local authorities.

There were also signs posted designating that anyone in the area would be subject to search, which the Secret Service said in court documents made it a “restricted” area under the protection of the agency.

 

                                                 

                                                   

                                                     

                                                      

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