Parents’ warning over would-be Trump assassin
Briton was ‘radicalised’, says father of the Briton accused of trying to shoot presidential hopeful
The parents of a 20-year-old Briton accused of trying to kill Donald Trump were ignored when they told US authorities of their fears for his welfare. Michael Sandford is alleged to have tried to grab a policeman’s gun at a rally in an attempt to kill the presumptive Republican nominee.
THE parents of a 20-year-old Briton accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump had warned US authorities of their fears for his welfare – but were ignored.
Michael Sandford, from Dorking, Surrey, is alleged to have tried to grab a police officer’s gun at a presidential rally in Las Vegas in an attempt to kill the presumptive Republican nominee.
Sandford was arrested at the rally on Saturday and filmed being dragged away by police as Mr Trump shouted: “Thank you officers, thank you.”
US prosecutors allege Sandford had been planning the assassination for 12 months and that he told officers he believed he would die in the attempt.
Sandford, who suffers from Asperger syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder, had travelled to the US more than 18 months ago to live with his girlfriend but had become increasingly isolated. In desperation his parents Lynne Sandford, 41, and Paul Davey, 50, called US authorities, it was claimed last night. Mr Davey, 50, from Havant in Hampshire, said: “We were in contact with the American embassy telling them we were worried about him. The American authorities said, ‘He’s over 18 we can’t do anything’.”
Photographs of Sandford’s bedroom at his father’s house show camouflage netting and toy guns adorning the walls and ceiling, but Mr Davey insisted his son “literally wouldn’t hurt a fly” and went on to suggest that he must have been “radicalised” while in the US.
Mr Davey said: “He’s never shown any violent tendencies before. It will be an outside influence as to why he’s done it, he’s never been like that and it’s not something he’d do off his own back. Maybe it was a cry for help. He would never pull the trigger of the gun if it came to it.” His mother, who lives in Dorking, had also told friends how she had been worried about him.
As a teenager, Sandford had become “obsessed” with the television series
Robot Wars, in which homemade robots battle against each other. Sandford had bought three robots that featured in the programme and had rebuilt them and entered them in competitions linked to the series.
But in June 2014, he had tried to sell them suddenly. Investigators will try to establish whether the sale of the robots helped to fund his trip to America.
Sandford had first moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, but then bought a BMW and drove to California before heading to Las Vegas two days before the presidential rally.
On Friday, Sandford visited the Battlefield Vegas shooting range, around half a mile from the billionaire presidential candidate’s multi-storey hotel Trump International, where he practised using a 9mm Glock pistol, firing off 20 rounds. It was the first time he had ever fired a gun. The next day he went to the Treasure Island Casino where Mr Trump was addressing a rally
‘He’s never shown any violent tendencies before. It will be an outside influence as to why he’s done it’
of 1,500 supporters. Sandford allegedly attempted to grab a gun from a police officer’s holster but was tackled and frogmarched out of the venue. When asked why he had done that, according to court papers, Sandford replied: “To shoot and kill Trump.” Asked if the attempt was unsuccessful what he would then do, Sandford said he had a ticket to a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, and “would try again there to kill Trump”. On Monday, Sandford appeared at a court in Nevada where he was charged with “an act of violence on restricted grounds”, which carries a 10-year jail term. He was remanded in custody.