Federal agents have launched an investigation after a hunting stand with a “sight line” to where President Donald Trump would exit Air Force One was discovered at Palm Beach International Airport.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that an active investigation is underway, sharing that the agency has not connected the hunting stand with any persons of interest.
“Prior to the President’s return to West Palm Beach, the Secret Service discovered what appeared to be an elevated hunting stand within sight line of the Air Force One landing zone,” Patel said in a statement. “No individuals were located at the scene. The FBI has since taken the investigatory lead, flying in resources to collect all evidence from the scene, and deploying our cell phone analytics capabilities.”
Anthony Guglielmi, communication chief for the Secret Service, said that “items of interest” were found near the airport “during advance security preparations” prior to Trump’s arrival.
“There was no impact to any movements and no individuals were present or involved at the location,” Guglielmi said in a statement to CNN. While we are not able to provide details about the specific items or their intent, this incident underscores the importance of our layered security measures.”
Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino told Fox News on Monday that the stand was “dismantled” by agents and was being analyzed for further evidence.
“It’s being flown to our lab,” Bongino said. “I believe it’s there right now, and all the forensic tools we have, from digital tools to biometric tools, are all going to be applied to try to find out who put this up there and why.”
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