A California man arrested at President Donald Trump's golf course in the Los Angeles area for posing as a member of the security team preparing for the president's visit has been charged with multiple offenses, including possession of large-capacity magazines and various illegal weapons found in his vehicle and home.
Jeanine John Taele, 38, was arrested Sunday at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, two days before the president was scheduled to visit the town for a Republican National Committee dinner.
Taele pleaded not guilty to all charges on Monday, with bail set at $250,000, despite having previously faced charges for weapons possession and second-degree robbery in an unrelated case.
He was expected to appear in court Wednesday on federal weapons charges, but the hearing was canceled. According to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Taele is currently held at the Los Angeles County jail and has not yet been placed in federal custody.
Taele first appeared at the president's property on Friday, walking around the golf course with a headset and taking photos and videos of federal employees conducting security assessments, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in the Central District of California.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said that during a search of his pickup truck in the club's parking lot, authorities found a loaded 9mm pistol, binoculars, and a badge marked “security protection agent,” according to federal prosecutors.
On Monday, law enforcement searched Taele's home in the nearby city of Downey, seizing an unregistered short-barreled rifle along with other firearms, magazines, ammunition, body armor, and notebooks containing “concerning phrases,” according to federal officials. Details of those contents were not disclosed.
Taele served as a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps, deployed to Iraq in 2008 and Afghanistan in 2010 as a warehouse worker, according to Marine Corps records. He received several commendations, including a good conduct award during his service from 2008 to 2016.
Speaking briefly to Fox News on Tuesday about Taele's arrest, Trump said that “only influential presidents get targeted,” and that he is “certainly influential,” which gives him “some comfort.”
