A 20-year-old man received a sentence of 12 months and a day for grabbing a police officer’s gun during a Donald Trump rally. Michael Sandford attempted to assassinate the president-elect, in Las Vegas, Nevada, while attending the pre-election event in June 2016. Sandford, a British citizen, was in the United States illegally at the time of the assassination attempt.

His sentence was handed down on Dec. 13, according to BBC News. When Sandford appeared in court, his composure was tearful when he apologized for attempting to kill Trump. He also said he was sorry for wasting the time of those involved in his arrest, and the legal system. Sandford further told the judge he was apologetic about spending American taxpayer’s money.

The would-be assassin pled guilty in September. The charges against him were being an illegal immigrant in possession of a gun and disputing the rally. These violations could have landed him in prison for 10 years. It is possible that Sandford would only serve four months incarcerated before being deported to the U.K.

When arrested, he confessed that his intent was to kill Trump and planned to do so for a year. Sandford explained that he had spent several days at the firing range to prepare. He further explained that he fully expected to be killed during the assassination attempt.

His father, Paul Davey, contacted U.S. authorities about his concern that communication had significantly decreased since the young man had migrated a year earlier. In June, Davey claimed, “his son would never harm a fly.” He further insisted that Sandford may have been influenced and encouraged to attempt the assassination of Trump.

Upon investigation, British authorities found the young man’s bedroom walls were covered with camouflage netting displaying toy weapons. The Telegraph describes Trump’s would-be assassin as an intelligent schoolboy. Whereas, his defense team portrayed Sandford as autistic, who suffered from seizures with complications stemming from OCD.

Written by Cathy Milne

Sources:

BBC News: Briton jailed over Trump death plot

DAILY EXPRESS: Brit arrested for assassination attempt on Donald Trump: Teen ‘tries to grab security gun’

The Telegraph: Briton accused of trying to kill Donald Trump was a Robot Wars obsessive

Image Courtesy of ken yee’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License