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Thread: British national tried to assassinate Donald Trump at Las Vegas rally

  1. #1
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    British national tried to assassinate Donald Trump at Las Vegas rally

    Man who attempted to grab gun at rally wanted 'to kill Trump'

    The man arrested for trying to disarm a police officer inside a Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas Saturday told authorities he intended to use the gun "to kill Trump," according to a new criminal complaint.

    Police arrested the 19-year-old after he attempted to pull a police officer's gun from its holster inside a Las Vegas theater where Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was holding a campaign rally.

    Police said Michael Sandford, a Briton, struck up a conversation with a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer under the pretense that he was seeking to get an autograph. During the conversation, police said Sandford tried to pull the officer's service weapon from its holster.

    Other officers also assigned to provide security at the event were quickly able to detain Sandford and authorities said there was no further disruption to the event.

    Sandford told police that he drove to Las Vegas from California "to kill Trump," according to the complaint, after hearing a few days earlier in the news that he was expected there.

    He was in the country illegally, his visa having expired. He had been living out of his car in California for a month, according to CNN affiliate KSNV.

    On June 17, he practiced shooting a gun for the first time at a gun range in Las Vegas.

    "(Sandford) further stated that if he were on the street tomorrow, he would try this again," reads the complaint, obtained by CNN. "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."

    He made an appearance before a federal judge Monday, and has been charged with committing a violent act in a restricted area, according to KSNV. A message left with his attorney was not immediately returned.

    Sandford also told authorities that had he not tried to assassinate Trump at the Las Vegas event, he had planned to go to his next rally, in Phoenix, Arizona, and try again there.

    Trump is under U.S. Secret Service protection but local law enforcement often supplements them at campaign events.

    The Secret Service says it has charged Sandford with violating two federal laws following the incident, including assault, and he could face up to a decade in prison if convicted. Because he was considered a flight risk, a judge on Monday ordered him to stay in custody until his next court appearance, which is a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 5.

    Many of Trump's rallies throughout the campaign have been contentious, with protests both inside and outside the events. Secret Service agents had to run to Trump's side during a campaign rally earlier this year in Ohio to protect him against a man attempting to rush the stage during his remarks.

    The Secret Service said other charges are still pending and the incident remains under investigation.

    http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/19/po...cer/index.html

  2. #2
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    July 6, 2016

    British man who 'tried to assassinate' Donald Trump pleads not guilty

    Michael Sandford, 20, has suffered from mental health problems, according to his mother.

    A British man has pleaded not guilty to charges over an alleged plot to assassinate presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump with a police officer’s gun at a Nevada rally.

    Michael Steven Sandford, 20, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of federal charges of disruption of an official function and two counts of firearm possession, according to the Associated Press.

    A grand jury indicted the English-born Mr Sandford, who previously told the court that he drove to Las Vegas from California to kill the New York business tycoon. He was arrested at an event at the Treasure Island hotel-casino on 18 June.

    Mr Sandford’s mother has told court researchers that the defendant mental health troubles, such as obsessive compulsive disorder, and had also previously suffered from anorexia.

    A magistrate judge questioned Mr Sandford’s competency to stand trial at a hearing on 20 June, but a federally appointed public defender said that he was fit to take the stand.

    The US Secret Service said Mr Sandford told police he had planned to kill Mr Trump for more than a year, during which time he lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he reportedly overstayed his visa and was living out of his car.

    Mr Sandford’s father said his son had lived in New Jersey for 18 months. He then drove across the country to California.

    The 20-year-old was reported to have been at a Battlefield Vegas shooting range the night before the alleged assassination attempt, firing off some 20 rounds from a Glock 9mm pistol.

    Security was tight at the 18 June rally, as attendees had to travel through metal detectors upon entrance.

    Mr Trump had reportedly complained that the tight security – run by the Secret Service, Las Vegas police and the casino – had prevented some people from seeing him speak.

    “I’m not happy about it, but I have to put up with it,” Mr Trump said in his speech. “They didn’t bring enough machines.”

    The Secret Service said that Mr Sandford had another ticket to a Trump rally in Arizona later that day.

    A federal judge set a trial date of 22 August.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7124291.html

  3. #3
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Wannabe Trump Assassin Pleads Guilty in Vegas

    LAS VEGAS (CN) — Would-be Donald Trump assassin Michael Steven Sandford on Tuesday pleaded guilty to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and impeding and disrupting government business and official functions.

    Sandford, 20, of England, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James Mahan, about a week after a court-approved meeting with his mother and two attorneys.

    At his Dec. 13 sentencing he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each county. But the plea agreement drops the charge of illegal alien in possession of a firearm, enabling Sandford's likely deportation to England and permanent banishment from the United States.

    Sandford last week met with his mother, Lynda Sandford, co-counsel Brenda Weksler and UK repatriation attorney Saimo Chahal, a partner at Bindmans LLP in the UK and an expert in international law, public law and human rights. Chahal also is a part-time Mental Health Tribunal judge.
    According to the plea agreement and other court records, Sandford, whose tourist visa had expired on Aug. 30, 2015, took shooting lessons at a Las Vegas gun range on June 17.

    On June 18, Sandford, of Dorking, Surrey, attended a Trump rally at the Mystere Theatre in the Treasure Island Casino. He approached a uniformed Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer and "using both hands, seized the officer's Glock 9 millimeter handgun and attempted to pull it from the holster," according to U.S. attorney.

    Sandford was immediately arrested, by police and the Secret Service.

    Sandford has Asperger's syndrome, a type of autism, but his attorney Weksler said he is competent to stand trial. Judge Mahan on Tuesday said Sandford is competent to enter his plea.

    http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/0...y-in-vegas.htm
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Michael Sandford who tried to grab police officer's gun in alleged plot to shoot Donald Trump is jailed

    A British man has been jailed for 12 months for trying to grab a policeman's gun at a Donald Trump rally in an alleged bid to kill the now US president-elect.

    Michael Sandford, 20, attempted to snatch the weapon at a Las Vegas casino where Mr Trump was addressing supporters in the run-up to the US election in June.

    He allegedly told officers after his arrest that his plan was to shoot the tycoon.

    Sandford, who has autism, was sentenced at a federal court in Las Vegas after pleading guilty in September to charges of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting an official function.

    Lawyers acting for Sandford said he suffers a number of mental health problems and he was diagnosed as having had a psychotic episode at the time of the incident on June 18.

    Sentencing Sandford to 12 months and a day in prison, Judge James Mahan told him: "You have a medical problem. You should not be ashamed or embarrassed about it. You need medication.

    "You're not a hardened criminal. You're not evil or a sociopath like a lot of people we have.

    "I don't think you wanted to kill anybody. This was just some crazy stunt that your mind told you to do."

    Sandford, of Dorking, Surrey, had faced up to 20 years in jail had he been found guilty of the offences at a trial. He had initially denied the charges but pleaded guilty in September following a plea agreement.

    Before sentencing, Sandford waved to his mother Lynne, father Paul Davey, grandmother Christine and four-year-old sister Jessica, who were in court.

    Ms Sandford has called for her son to be allowed to serve his sentence in the UK so he can receive psychiatric help.

    Sandford, wearing leg irons and an orange prison uniform, became tearful as he addressed the court to apologise for his actions.

    He said: "I know saying sorry is not enough. I really do feel awful about what I did.

    "I wish there was some way to make things better.

    "I have cost taxpayers so much money. I feel terrible."

    Addressing the judge, he added: "I'm really sorry to you and the court for taking up so much time."

    Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of up to 18 months.

    Sandford's lawyers say he will now serve around four months, having been detained since June, before he is deported back to the UK.

    Sandford - whose legs were shaking as he stood in the courtroom - was arrested at Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas where Mr Trump was addressing 1,500 supporters on June 18.

    According to court documents, Sandford told a policeman at the rally that he wanted Mr Trump's autograph before he attempted to seize the officer's gun.

    He was tackled by officers and frogmarched from the venue.

    During a police interview, when asked why he attempted to grab the weapon, Sandford replied: "To shoot and kill Donald Trump," court records show.

    http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime...-a3419511.html

  5. #5
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    he look the british man did not knew there are plenty of room in death row

  6. #6
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    May 9, 2017

    Briton Michael Sandford Who Tried To Grab Gun At Trump Rally ‘Heard Voices Telling Him To Kill’

    ‘At one point they were screaming at me.’

    A British man jailed for trying to snatch a policeman’s gun at a Donald Trump rally has said he heard voices telling him to kill.

    Michael Sandford, 21, made a grab for the weapon at a Las Vegas casino where the tycoon was addressing supporters in the run-up to the US presidential election.

    Speaking after his return to the UK on Thursday, nearly five months into a year-long sentence, he said he was hearing voices at the time of the incident.

    “They’d been coming on for a while and getting stronger and more frequent. At one point they were screaming at me,” he told The Sun.

    “My friends had said Trump needed to be stopped. They said he was going to destroy the country — but it was the voices in my head which were telling me to kill him.

    “Then one day I saw he was speaking in Las Vegas and I decided to drive there and do something myself.”

    Sandford has autism, suffers from a number of mental health problems and was diagnosed as having had a psychotic episode at the time of the incident, in June.

    He was sentenced at a court in Las Vegas in December to 12 months in jail after pleading guilty to charges of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting an official function.

    He described US prison as terrifying and said he was locked in his cell “most of the time”.

    Sandford was released less than halfway through the sentence, despite fears Trump might seek to intervene and either keep him in jail for longer or block his return to the UK.

    He said being reunited with his family was an amazing feeling. “There were times when I thought I might never see them again,” he added.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entr...ushpmg00000004

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