Mother allowed to visit son charged with attempted Trump assassination

Michael Steven Sandford, a British man, was removed from a Trump speaking event after allegedly trying to take an officer’s gun to shoot the presidential candidate in June.

Michael Steven Sandford, who allegedly tried to shoot the Republican nominee, has been on suicide watch at federal detention center near Las Vegas, lawyer said.

The mother of a British man accused of trying to grab a police officer’s gun to shoot Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a campaign event in Las Vegas won approval from a judge on Tuesday to visit her son in federal custody in Nevada.

Lynne Sandford of Dorking, England, wasn’t in court for a hearing at which Michael Steven Sandford’s defense attorney, Brenda Weksler, said he was in a “delicate mental state”.


In court filings, Weksler has said her client has been on suicide watch. He’s being held at a US government detention center west of Las Vegas.

Sandford, who was 20 when he was arrested 18 June, didn’t speak in court. His trial is scheduled 3 October. US magistrate judge Cam Ferenbach characterized the case as unique because of Sandford’s age, the nature of the charges and the “context” of the alleged offense.

Authorities say Sandford grabbed for a Las Vegas police officer’s gun and later told federal agents that he drove from California to Las Vegas with a plan to kill Trump.

Prosecutors say he also said he practiced shooting at a gun range the day before Trump’s appearance.
It wasn’t clear if Trump, on stage at the Treasure Island hotel-casino, recognized a threat before officers escorted Sandford out of the 1,500-seat theater.

Ferenbach said letting Lynne Sandford and a London lawyer, Saimo Chahal, meet with Weksler and Michael Sandford “might help in the resolution of the case in a way that benefits the defendant and the government”.