Dismay and disbelief in the UK over accusations that Michael Sandford attempted to shoot Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Las Vegas

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The British man who allegedly set out to write a new and bloody chapter in American history by assassinating Donald Trump during a campaign rally has been described by friends and neighbours as a nice guy who had never before shown violent tendencies. His father said he has Asperger’s syndrome.

Michael Sandford, 20, allegedly approached a police officer at the event in Las Vegas to say he wanted Trump’s autograph, but then tried to grab his holstered gun. He was tackled and frogmarched from the venue.

When asked why he had done it, Sandford, from Dorking, Surrey, told police: “To shoot and kill Trump,” according to US court papers. He had been planning the assassination for “about a year” and was convinced he would die in the attempt.

On Tuesday the Republican candidate’s son, Donald Trump Jr, praised “real professionals” in local law enforcement and the secret service for protecting his father.

Sandford had arrived in Las Vegas last Friday, when he went to a local shooting range and reportedly learned how to use a gun for the first time. The Trump rally at the Treasure Island Casino was held the following day.

Trump has been accused of inciting violence at his events, where attendees have to pass through airport-style metal detectors. In March a protester attempted to storm the stage outside Dayton, Ohio, prompting secret service agents to jump on stage to surround Trump. More recently there has been chaos outside rallies in San Jose, California, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

On Monday, Sandford was denied bail at a district court in Nevada, where he appeared charged with an act of violence on restricted grounds.



Federal magistrate judge George Foley declined to release Sandford, who appeared before him in leg irons, over concerns that he was a potential danger to the community and a flight risk. He will appear in court again on 5 July.

A federal public defender told the court that Sandford was autistic yet competent, although he did not enter a plea. His mother, Lynne Sandford, told court researchers that her son was treated for obsessive compulsive disorder and anorexia when he was younger, and that he once ran away from a hospital, according to the public defender.

Sandford apparently did not have permission to be in the US after overstaying a visa, and was unemployed. Papers filed at the court said he had been in the country for about 18 months and lived in Hoboken, New Jersey.

He had driven across the US to San Bernardino, California, and had been living out of his car before travelling on to Las Vegas on Thursday.

On Friday, he visited the Battlefield Vegas shooting range where he practised using a 9mm Glock pistol, firing off 20 rounds.

The following day he went to the Treasure Island Casino where Trump was addressing a rally of 1,500 supporters amid tight security.

Gregg Donovan, 56, who queued for nine hours to see Trump, told the Washington Post that Sandford asked him, “Why do you like Donald Trump?” and “seemed a little bit repulsed” when he saw Donovan wearing Trump memorabilia. Sandford was acting “weird” and “nervous”, waving his hands and looking uncomfortable, Donovan told the Post.

Sandford had also bought a ticket to a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, for later on Saturday as a back-up, according to the secret service report.

The bedroom of Michael Sandford, the British man who allegedly tried to assassinate Donald Trump. Photograph: Facebook

Across the Atlantic, there was dismay and disbelief at his actions.

His father, Paul Davey, from Havant, was quoted by the MailOnline website as saying: “He’s never shown any violent tendencies before. He’s never been a bad person.

“He’s a nice kid and literally wouldn’t hurt a fly – he used to tell us not to use fly spray because he didn’t want any flies to die.”

Davey said someone must have coerced or “radicalised” his son into attacking the presidential candidate. “He has never mentioned Donald Trump. The reason it is such a shock is because he shows no interest in anything like that … I doubt he would even know who the president of the United States is.”

In a separate interview with the Portsmouth News, he added: “Whether he’s been blackmailed or put up to it, that’s the only thing me and his mum can think of. It’s so against his nature and obviously with his Asperger’s, we think somebody has got hold of him and done something.”

His mother Lynne, who also lives in Dorking in a council-owned property, is “devastated”, a friend told the Evening Standard. She is understood to have left her home in the company of police on Tuesday morning.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said Sandford was a big fan of the BBC television programme Robot Wars. “I would often see him outside by the garage building things, he was very good at metalwork,” he said. “He was a nice guy. As far as I know he got on well with his mum.”

A web page for the Fighting Robots Association listed Michael and Lynne Sandford and Paul Davey as owners of a number of robots, including machines named ‘Mr Nasty’, ‘X-Terminator’ and ‘Steel Avenger’.

An elderly neighbour, who did not give her name, said: “He used to say ‘hello’, which is good in this day and age.”



The neighbours did not want to be named due to their positive relationship with Sandford’s mother.



Neighbours at Sandford’s former flat on Cottondene in Dorking said they did not know the 20-year-old but believe he moved away 18 months ago. It is understood he told his mother he was visiting a girlfriend in the US.

A former classmate of Sandford, who is now 20 and was in his Year 6 class at Powell Corderoy primary school in Dorking, said: “My boyfriend’s mum showed me an article about it this morning and asked if I had gone to school with him and as soon as I saw the picture I recognised him.

“All I remember about him from school is he was a bit of a strange one and I never really spoke to him.”



He went on to attend Ashcombe school, said headteacher David Blow, but he declined to comment further.

Sandford was carrying a UK driving licence at the time he was arrested.



A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are providing assistance following an arrest of a British national in Las Vegas.”

A Surrey police spokesman said: “Surrey police is aware of an incident in Las Vegas on Saturday 18 June which resulted in the arrest of a UK national from Surrey.

“The force is currently providing family liaison support on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.”