Trump Motorcade Driver Had A Gun In Bag: Driver Removed By Secret Service And Detained For Questioning
A driver in the president’s motorcade was detained and questioned by Secret Service and local law enforcement after it was discovered this driver had a gun in the motorcade vehicle. The motorcade driver was driving the van that carries the White House reporters in the press pool, not the president or any members of his family.
According to CNN Politics, Trump’s vehicle is driven by Secret Service agents, and this van’s driver was contracted from an agency that the White House uses for drivers of some of the vehicles in the president’s motorcade that are not carrying other officials or members of the president’s family.
The identity or gender of the driver was not released, but according to CNN, this driver had “inadvertently” brought the firearm near President Trump’s beachfront estate on Monday. This prompted questioning of the driver by the Secret Service and local authorities.
The incident occurred as the motorcade was getting ready to embark on the short journey to Trump’s golf club. The Secret Service searched the individual’s bag before the motorcade left, and a gun was discovered inside the bag.
This search took place in a nearby parking lot, which was outside the grounds of the golf club, the press pool reporters said.
The Secret Service released a statement regarding the incident, saying, “The individual was found to be in lawful possession of a prohibited item (firearm) outside the secure area at a Secret Service security screening checkpoint.”
https://twitter.com/favoriteauntssi/status/965669602658324480
The driver was “briefly detained” by the Secret Service and other officials from local law enforcement while the incident was investigated. A White House official drove the press van as the driver was taken aside for questioning, according to ABC News today.
The driver indicated that he had forgotten to leave the gun in his own vehicle before getting behind the wheel of the motorcade van during the questioning.
Trump motorcade driver stopped after gun found in his possession –https://t.co/4F1bQjQByO
How does one "forget" they have a gun in their bag?
And how come as taxpayers are we paying for the Press pool to ride around? Shouldn't the Networks be paying for their own transportation?— Susang4Trump ? USA #SuperEliteDeplorable ? (@Oil_Ranger) February 19, 2018
The Secret Service personnel and their partners at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deemed the incident resolved.
They also conveyed in that statement, “At no time was any Secret Service protectee in danger or impacted. All Secret Service security measures worked.”
This incident came on the heels of the recent Florida school shooting, which left 17 people dead at a location about 50 miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. The White House announced that the president is supporting the efforts to tighten up the federal background check system when it comes to the purchasing of a gun.
According to CNN, the rest of the day was not without incident when it came to the president’s motorcade. Before leaving Mar-a-Lago, one of the vans in the motorcade got into a minor “fender bender.” It is not known if it was the same van that switched drivers in the earlier incident.
