Was this a third assassination attempt in 18 months on Donald Trump? If so, the man who attempted to breach security at Mar-a-Lago with a shotgun and a "fuel can" didn't do his homework, since Trump was not at his resort at the time, attending the Governor's Ball instead at the White House.
That turned out to be a fatal mistake, as both the Secret Service and sheriff deputies opened fire on the intruder, killing him:
U.S. Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff's office deputy shot and killed a man who entered the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago with "what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can," Secret Service announced in a statement on Sunday.
The suspect’s identity has not been released yet because of “pending notification of next of kin,” the statement said.
"U.S. Secret Service agents and a PBSO deputy confronted the individual and shots were fired by law enforcement during the encounter," the Secret Service statement said. "No U.S. Secret Service or PBSO personnel were injured."
Both Fox & Friends in the clip above and the Associated Press note that the Trumps were hundreds of miles away at the time:
Although Trump often spends weekends at his resort, he was at the White House during this incident. First lady Melania Trump was also with the president at the White House on Saturday night.
It's too early to draw any conclusions, and some of these details may be entirely wrong in the rush of initial reports. If the details are accurate, though, one has to wonder whether assassination was the motive. It's not exactly difficult to track the movements of presidents; their schedules are mostly public, and the Governor's Ball certainly was. In fact, that event was particularly high-profile after the collapse of the meeting between Trump and the National Governors Association ten days ago, when Trump initially refused to include Maryland's Wes Moore and Colorado's Jared Polis. Trump later extended the invitation to all governors for the February 20 meeting, with the ball taking place the next evening (last night).
The fuel cans are an oddity for an assassination plot, too, as is the shotgun. You'd have to get close to a target for a shotgun to be reliably effective for an assassination plot. At least at first blush, these circumstances lend themselves more to a different motive: attempting to burn down Mar-a-Lago while Trump was away, with the (very bad) assumption that security would be minimal while Trump was elsewhere. A shotgun would provide personal security rather than a targeting weapon, a way for the intruder to keep any rent-a-cops off his back while he got away. That's almost as stupid an idea as attempting to penetrate Mar-a-Lago while Trump was in residence, of course, which the intruder discovered a nanosecond before consequences got applied to his stupidity and/or insanity.
The Palm Beach County sheriff held a press conference a few minutes ago, but it didn't add much other than to confirm the initial details. The suspect had an opportunity to surrender, the sheriff told reporters; when confronted, he was ordered to drop the fuel can and the shotgun. He dropped the can but pointed the shotgun at officers, which turned out to be the last in a series of very stupid decisions. The name of the suspect still has not been released. The sheriff did ask people in the area to check their home surveillance systems and Ring camera footage to help with the ongoing investigation, but that may be just to anaylze the suspect's movements to see whether their security protocols require updating.
We'll have more on this as developments warrant.
Update: I changed the graphic because the Christmas pic I used first didn't really fit the tenor of this story.
Update: The Associated Press reports that law enforcement has identified the deceased intruder:
The man, who was in his early 20s and from North Carolina, had a gas can and a shotgun, according to Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman. He had been reported missing by his family a few days ago, and investigators believe he headed south and picked up the shotgun along the way.
Guglielmi said a box for the weapon was discovered in the man’s vehicle after the incident, which took place around 1:30 a.m.
The man killed was identified by investigators as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation.
One has to wonder whether mental illness played a significant role in this plot. Of course, that aspect was apparent from the attempt itself already.
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