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Man accused of trying to kill Trump ‘was put up to it’

THE father of a man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump said yesterday that his son had been “blackmailed or put up to it.”

Michael Steven Sandford, from Dorking, Surrey, was arrested at a rally in a Las Vegas casino on Saturday after going for a police officer’s gun as he asked for the presidential hopeful’s autograph.

The 20-year-old, who was in the US without permission, later told police he wanted to kill the presumptive Republican nominee, according to the Secret Service.

His father Paul Davey, from Havant, Hampshire, said his son had “never been interested in politics” and would not be able to name the current US president.

“It’s an absolute shock. He’s never been violent in the slightest. He’s always been a polite and peaceful boy,” Mr Davey said.

“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.”

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