Secret Service discovers hunting stand with direct sight line to Trump’s Air Force One exit in Florida

Secret Service discovers hunting stand with direct sight line to Trump’s Air Force One exit in Florida


The U.S. Secret Service on Thursday discovered a suspicious hunting stand near Palm Beach International Airport with a direct sight line to where President Donald Trump exits Air Force One, the agency confirmed to NBC News on Sunday.

The FBI is now leading an investigation into the discovery, Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service, said in a statement.

A hunting stand seen on a tree branch
A hunting stand was found at Palm Beach International Airport with a direct line of sight to where President Donald Trump exits Air Force One.U.S. Secret Service

“The U.S. Secret Service is working closely with the FBI and our law enforcement partners in Palm Beach County. During advance security preparations prior to the Palm Beach arrival, which included the use of technology and comprehensive physical sweeps, our teams identified items of interest near Palm Beach International Airport,” Guglielmi said.

He added that “there was no impact to any movements and no individuals were present or involved at the location.”

Fox News first reported the discovery.

Trump traveled to Florida on Friday and is spending the weekend in West Palm Beach, where he often stays at his Mar-a-Lago resort to play golf.

The president has faced multiple threats in the last two years, beginning on the campaign trail last year and continuing after he was elected to another term as president.

He faced two assassination attempts last year: once when he was targeted in a shooting during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July and again while golfing in Florida last September.

In Pennsylvania, Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old man from the Butler area, was killed by Secret Service agents after he opened fire at Trump from the rooftop of a building near the rally site.

And in the Florida case, Ryan Routh, now 59, hid in the shrubbery at a West Palm Beach golf course in what prosecutors described as a plot to kill the then-presidential candidate. But a Secret Service agent spotted Routh before Trump reached that part of the course, eventually leading to Routh’s arrest.

A jury last month found Routh guilty in the Florida assassination attempt. He’s slated to be sentenced in December.

One man — 50-year-old former fire chief Corey Comperatore — was killed in the Pennsylvania shooting and two others were injured.

Earlier this year, police in West Palm Beach arrested a 46-year-old man for allegedly making threats on social media to kill Trump ahead of his inauguration.

In another case earlier this year, a Wisconsin man was arrested for forging threats against Trump while he attempted to frame and deport another man.



NBC News

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