Police arrested 19-year-old Michael Sandford at a Donald Trump (R-N.Y.) rally last week in Las Vegas, after he attempted to pull a police officer’s gun from its holster.
The police officer was part of the local law enforcement on duty supplementing Trump’s U.S. Secret Service protection, as is often the case during rallies.
According to a new criminal complaint obtained by CNN Politics, Sanford told authorities he intended to use the gun “to kill Trump.”
Originally being from England, Sanford remained illegally in the U.S. after his visa had expired. Apparently, he’d been spending the last month living in his car.
Sandford told police that he drove to Las Vegas from California with the purpose “to kill Trump.” He even went to a gun range in Las Vegas on June 17, the day before the rally, to practice shooting a gun.
Police said that Sandford tried to access a gun by starting a conversation with a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer, pretending he was there to get an autograph. While they were talking, Sandford tried to pull the officer’s weapon from its holster. Luckily he didn’t succeed, and other police officers helped to detain Sandford.
Sandford made an appearance before a federal judge yesterday, and was charged with committing a violent act in a restricted area. According to the complaint, Sandford stated that
“If he were on the street tomorrow, he would try this again.”
The complaint also showed long-term planning leading up to the act;
“Sandford claimed he had been planning to kill Trump for about a year but decided to act on this occasion because he finally felt confident about trying it.”
Had he not felt confident enough to go through with the attempt at the Las Vegas event, he planned to try at Trump’s next rally in Phoenix, Arizona, instead.
Sandford is charged with violating two federal laws following the incident.
One of the violations is assault, and if Sandford is convicted, he could face up to a decade in prison. The judge yesterday ordered him to stay in custody until his next court appearance, which is a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 5.
The Secret Service said other charges are still pending and the incident remains under investigation.
According to public defender Heather Fraley, Sandford appeared to be competent and he has not been diagnosed with a mental illness. However, he has autism and a history of attempted suicide. He did not expect to survive the attempt.
One can only be very, very grateful that this unbalanced Brit did not have access to any weapons of his own, and that no-one in the crowded Las Vegas venue had to lose their life. There seems to have been no further disruption of the event.
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