Man with gun in car arrested at Trump golf course before US president’s visit
Suspect had 16-round magazine in his pocket and appeared to monitor security, authorities say
A man carrying ammunition and with a gun in his vehicle was arrested Sunday at President Donald Trump’s Los Angeles-area golf course after appearing to monitor security preparations ahead of Trump’s fundraiser there on Tuesday, authorities said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Jeanine John Taele, 38, took photos and video and had a 16-round magazine with ammunition in his pocket. A search of his pickup truck in the golf course car park turned up a loaded 9mm pistol, binoculars and a badge that read “security protection agent,” according to the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
Law enforcement searched his home in the nearby city of Downey on Monday and found a rifle and other firearms, magazines and ammunition, body armour and notebooks with “concerning statements,” federal authorities said. No details about the statements were released.
The sheriff’s department announced the arrest as Trump was preparing to arrive for the Republican National Committee dinner Tuesday at the Trump National Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes just south of Los Angeles.
“Mr Taele’s troubling behaviour at the President’s public golf course merely days before the President was expected to arrive raised serious red flags for law enforcement,” Patrick Grandy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said in a statement. “There is no room for error, particularly in light of previous attempts on President Trump’s life.”
Last year a jury found a man guilty of trying to assassinate Trump at the president’s Florida country club. And while a candidate in 2024, Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by a shooter on a roof at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.