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Michael Steven
Sandford, who prosecutors described as a 19-year-old British
national, was arrested on Saturday at the Treasure Island hotel
in Las Vegas after trying to disarm the officer, according to
Las Vegas police.
According to court papers filed on Monday in federal court in
Nevada, Sandford told a Secret Service agent he had driven to
Las Vegas from California with the goal of shooting Trump.
"Sandford claimed he had been attempting to kill Trump for about
a year but decided to act on this occasion because he finally
felt confident about trying it," the court papers said.
He was charged with committing an act of violence on restricted
ground, Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's
Office, said in an email.
Sandford has not entered a plea and is scheduled to be in court
for a preliminary hearing on July 5, Collins said. Sandford's
federal public defender, Heather Fraley, could not be
immediately reached for comment.
Sandford said he had been in the United States for a year and a
half, the documents showed. The records said he had lived in
Hoboken, New Jersey, after coming to the country.
Court records said Sandford went to the Battlefield Vegas gun
range last Friday to practice shooting, adding that he had never
fired a gun before. While there, he fired 20 rounds from a Glock
9 mm handgun, the records said.
Sandford told investigators that if he were "on the street
tomorrow," he would try again, the documents said.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Curtis Skinner
in San Francisco; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Peter Cooney)
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