Steve Neavling
Federal agents are investigating a suspicious hunting stand discovered last week near Palm Beach International Airport, positioned with a direct view of where President Donald Trump exits Air Force One, NBC News reports.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi confirmed Sunday that the agency found the stand during “advance security preparations” for Trump’s arrival.
“Our teams identified items of interest near Palm Beach International Airport,” he said in a statement. “There was no impact to any movements and no individuals were present or involved at the location.”
The FBI is leading the investigation, and officials have not disclosed who may have placed the stand there. A senior official told NBC News the perch was across the street from an area where private planes often park, including Trump’s personal jet. Air Force One was scheduled to use the same area temporarily because of construction.
Trump arrived in Florida on Friday and is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach.
The president has faced several threats over the past two years. Last July, he was shot at during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in an attack that killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore and injured two others. The gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was killed by Secret Service agents.
Two months later, agents arrested Ryan Routh, 59, after he was found hiding in bushes at a West Palm Beach golf course in what prosecutors said was a plot to assassinate Trump. Routh was convicted last month and will be sentenced in December.
