BREAKING: Authorities Say 'Explosive Devices' Report 'Unfounded' In New Update
UPDATE: Local authorities say initial reports of “explosive devices” found near the rally are “unfounded,” the Daily Mail reports. Police and Secret Service remain on “high alert” in a ramped-up effort to secure the rally site’s perimeter.
Less than 72 hours after the second assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, the Daily Mail reported that a third may have been in the works shortly before his Wednesday rally in Long Island, New York.
A pre-rally sweep of the area by Secret Service agents and the Nassau County Police Department uncovered what were described as “explosive” inside a parked vehicle outside the venue where President Trump is expected to speak Wednesday night, according to the Daily Mail. The tip came from a source close to the local police who declared the rally site “perimeter was breached and a blue barrel was removed.” A follow-up sweep of the area with K-9 units “found an explosive device in one of the vehicles.”
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Shortly before the explosives were allegedly discovered, officers apparently noticed the owner of the vehicle running off into the nearby woods. “No one saw if he had anything on him, they just saw him take off running. A lot of cars are now parking, they’re lining up on Hempstead Turnpike, just parking on the grass. Even over at Eisenhower Park, they’re just parking over there,” the source said to One America News Network journalist James Lalino, who recounted the conversation in a post on X. Additional video emerged showing a strong police presence near walkways traveled by throngs of MAGA supporters who showed up hours before the rally will begin.
WATCH:
FOOTAGE: Nassau County Police have found explosives planted in a car at Trump’s rally site in Long Island. pic.twitter.com/Kd6ivYJvtc
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 18, 2024
Thousands of Trump supporters are expected to descend on Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum for a 7 p.m. rally. The Trump campaign has spent precious resources mining votes in the Big Apple borough, a conservative enclave that has a healthy history of supporting urban Republicans. If confirmed, the discovery of explosives would amount to another serious security breach just days after the attempt on Trump’s life at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. A 58-year-old man was arrested after Secret Service agents discovered him lurking in the bushes with an AK-47-style rifle, and a subsequent search of his social media history found that he entertained violent ideations against Trump.
Both incidents come roughly two months after the initial attempt on President Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, a shooting at an outdoor rally that led to a live-television tackling of Trump by security personnel and iconic photos of him standing back up, bloodied and pumping his fist. Since then, his campaigns have largely occurred at indoor venues. The fallout from the Butler, Pennsylvania shooting led to the resignation of former Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, and acting director Robert Rowe remains in the hot seat after being implicated in denying additional security to Trump after he received death threats.
President Trump spent Sunday and into Monday railing against Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he accused of instigating the shooting through vitriolic rhetoric that inspired would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh. Authorities believe that Routh posted on social media “democracy is on the ballot” in November’s election, a refrain repeated by Harris and President Joe Biden throughout their campaigns. On Monday Trump released a list of dozens of inflammatory quotes, claiming that Democrats and media figures have been fanning the flames of hatred that led to this attack.
Harris has made statements, such as “It’s on us to recognize the threat [Trump] poses,” that have drawn criticism from Trump’s supporters who believe that such comments are not just political rhetoric but calls for action against the former president. Trump’s list highlights multiple instances where Biden has called Trump a threat, including quotes like, “Trump is a genuine threat to this nation” and “Trump and MAGA Republicans are a threat to the very soul of this country.”