I don’t know what’s worse: that a weird hunting stand with a clear line of sight to Trump’s Air Force One exit was discovered at Florida’s Palm Beach International Airport, or that it might have been there for years. Last weekend, it was reported that the Secret Service found the unusual setup and roped in the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate. It's a bit of a jarring discovery as Trump has been the subject of two assassination attempts (via Fox News):
The U.S. Secret Service uncovered a suspicious hunting stand with a direct line of sight to where President Donald Trump exits Air Force One at the Palm Beach International Airport, officials told Fox News Digital.
Agents found the stand on Friday, and the FBI is now leading an investigation into the discovery. FBI Director Kash Patel said the hunting stand has not yet been connected to any individual.
"Prior to the President’s return to West Palm Beach, USSS discovered what appeared to be an elevated hunting stand within sight line of the Air Force One landing zone," Patel told Fox News Digital. "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."
USSS chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi also confirmed that the organization is "working closely" with the FBI as well as law enforcement in Palm Beach County.
Guglielmi said agents discovered the hunting stand during their "advance security preparations" prior to Trump's arrival in Palm Beach.
There’s no deer in the area. Local outlets quoted hunters saying that there was simply no use for the stand, though a professional iguana hunter, the Python Cowboy, added he noticed the stand in 2023 (via WPBF):
A professional iguana hunter known as the Python Cowboy says he’s seen the homemade tree stand that was found facing the runway where Air Force One lands — and believes it’s been there for about two years.
Mike Kimmel told WPBF 25 Investigative Reporter Terri Parker he and his team first noticed the stand back in 2023.
“We’ve been noticing it for about two years now,” Kimmel said. “Last November, when the leaves were all dried up, you could really notice it. We were surprised that when we saw the newest news article about it, that they didn’t notice it before.”
Kimmel says he’s never seen anyone using the stand and doesn’t think it would be useful for hunting iguanas.
[…]
A local hunter who owns a hunting club told Parker there’s no legitimate reason for a hunting stand to be in that area.
“There are no deer. There’s no wild boar along Southern Boulevard,” he said. “But you know what there is? Iguanas.”
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We’ll keep you updated.
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