“While we are still investigating the motives of this individual, we are thankful he was apprehended before the President’s visit,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Authorities have so far provided no evidence that the suspect, Jeanine John Taele, was targeting the president.
Taele, 38, first came to the attention of authorities on Friday at the Rancho Palos Verdes golf course, according to the criminal complaint.
He was spotted “walking throughout the golf course at the Trump Golf Club, wearing an earpiece, and taking photographs and videos of the federal agents’ security-planning activities.”
He was spotted at the golf course again on Sunday and arrested. Deputies searched him and found a 16-round magazine containing hollow point ammunition in this pant pocket, and a loaded 9mm pistol in his car.
The suspect initially claimed to be on a security assignment for the State Department. A background check, however, revealed that he was wanted on a theft warrant.
A search of Taele’s home uncovered an assault-style rifle, a pistol, a bulletproof vest, high-capacity magazines, ammunition, two radios and “multiple notebooks containing concerning statements,” police said.
Taele is currently charged with possessing an unregistered short-barrelled rifle, a federal offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
He is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Los Angeles on Wednesday, who will decide whether he should be released on bail.
Taele also faces multiple firearms-related charges under California law.
Trump’s fundraising dinner at the golf club on Tuesday evening, held to raise money for the Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections, went ahead without incident. (AFP)
