A British man was arrested at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Las Vegas over the weekend after allegedly attempting to carry out an assassination plot against the candidate.
Michael Steven Sandford, 20, was denied bail on Monday after being charged with an act of violence on restricted grounds. Sandford, a UK citizen who told authorities he had been living in the United States for about a year and a half, was living out of his car and had a history of mental illness, according to his court-appointed attorney.
Secret Service agents said Sandford approached a Las Vegas police officer on Saturday at the Treasure Island Casino, where Trump was holding a campaign event. After telling the office he wanted to get the candidate’s autograph, Sandford grabbed the officer’s gun and tried to remove it from its holster, according to the criminal complaint.
Sandford told officers he had been planning to assassination Trump for about a year, and believed he would be killed in the attempt. He reportedly spent time at a shooting range in Vegas prior to the campaign rally in order to prepare to carry out his plot.