19-year-old suspect pretended he wanted Donald Trump's autograph, according the Secret Service.
A 19-year-old man arrested at a Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas said he tried to grab an officer’s handgun so he could kill the presumptive GOP nominee, according to the Secret Service.
Michael Steven Sandford has been charged with an act of violence on restricted grounds, says a complaint filed Monday in Nevada federal court, The Associated Press reported.
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Sandford attended a Trump gathering at the Treasure Island Casino Saturday, the document said. He approached a Las Vegas Police Department officer, saying he wanted Trump’s autograph, authorities said.
He was arrested after he tried to remove the cop’s service weapon by grabbing its handle, the document said.
He told agents he lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, and had been planning an assassination for about a year. He drove from New Jersey to California before coming to Las Vegas last Thursday, according to authorities.
He had a British driver’s license, federal agents said. Sandford said he was sure he would die in his attempt to kill Trump, and that he had gone to the Battlefield Vegas shooting range on Friday to learn how to fire a weapon, the complaint said.
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There were about 1,500 people at the rally. All had to pass through a metal detector before entering the Mystere Theater inside the casino, the news service said.
It was not clear whether Sandford had retained an attorney or entered a plea.
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