Latest Donald Trump security scare as 'explosive device' reported at rally
Security was called to a report of potential explosives at a Donald Trump rally in the latest safety scare for the former president. On Tuesday, September 18, an explosive device was reported outside Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York.
It comes shortly after a second suspected assassination attempt of Trump in the space of just two months. However, security have downplayed the latest incident as they confirmed that no explosives were found at the scene and there was no threat to the 78-year-old or members of the public, reports the Mirror.
A public information officer told Newsweek: "We did respond to a suspicious occurrence in the vicinity of the Nassau Coliseum, however there was no validity of an explosive device being found. We're unsure where this information originated, but we can confirm that no explosives were discovered."
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The false alarm comes after the 78-year-old was shot during a sniper attack at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 14. Then this week Trump also survived what the FBI is describing as "an apparent assassination attempt" in which a man with an AK-47 was fired upon by Secret Service agents at a Florida golf club.
Mr Trump's party is trying to protect 18 Republicans in Democratic-heavy congressional districts in New York City that Joe Biden carried in 2020. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to speak at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 47th Annual Leadership Conference in Washington and has trips planned later in the week to Michigan and Wisconsin.
Speaking about the second attempt on his life in as many months, the former president said it was "quite something", adding, "but it all worked out well".
In his account, father-of-five Mr Trump recalled that he and friend Steve Witkoff "heard shots being fired in the air, I guess probably four or five" as Secret Service agents on the course's next hole spotted the rifle and fired at the suspect.
Speaking as part of a social media event hosted by X, he said: "I was playing golf with some of my friends on a Sunday morning and very peaceful, very beautiful weather … and all of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five, and it sounded like bullets."
"The Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me…everybody just got into the [golf] carts, and we moved along," Mr Trump added.
Praising the Secret Service for doing an "excellent job", he said: "There was no question that we were off that course. I would have loved to have sunk that last putt, but we decided [to] get out of [there]."
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