Law enforcement officers took a 38-year-old Southern California resident into custody Sunday at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, Fox News reported on Sunday.
The arrest occurred after federal authorities observed the man recording security preparations ahead of an upcoming visit by the president. Subsequent searches uncovered a substantial weapons collection.
Plainclothes federal operatives initially spotted the suspect as he traversed the property, documenting video footage and photographs while apparently observing security-planning operations. Lomita Sheriff's Station deputies arrived at the location around 3:30 p.m. to intervene, discovering during the interaction that he was concurrently named in a robbery investigation by the El Segundo Police Department.
A physical search of the suspect yielded a 16-round magazine loaded with hollow-point rounds inside his clothing. A follow-up inspection of his automobile in the facility's parking lot revealed a loaded handgun with a bullet chambered, alongside an extra loaded magazine containing hollow-point ammunition. Police booked him on suspicion of carrying a hidden firearm and having banned ammunition.
The discovery led investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Major Crimes Bureau, working alongside the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, to execute a search warrant at the suspect’s residence in Downey.
Inside the home, law enforcement retrieved an illegally modified AR-platform rifle, a .45-caliber 1911 pistol, an AR-platform upper receiver, tactical body armor, high-capacity magazines and bulk quantities of handgun and rifle ammunition, two radio signal transmission devices, and several notebooks filled with what law enforcement categorized as "concerning statements".
The case remains under active joint investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the US Secret Service, and the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. On Tuesday, officials submitted the findings to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for potential charge filings while the suspect remains held in custody.
Law enforcement representatives stated that no active or credible danger to neighboring communities has been identified.