A man tried to enter Trump Tower on Thursday to see President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump. He was stopped by Secret Service agents, who noticed he was wearing a bulletproof vest, said police.
Adames Benitez, 52, had ballistic gear under his shirt when he arrived at Trump Tower around 4 p.m., police said. He was carrying two throwing knives, a weighted sock and a fake New York State I.D. card, authorities said.
Police say he told the Secret Service he was a U.S. senator there to talk to Ivanka Trump about her dress line, and that he owned the building.
She was not in Trump Tower at the time; she is currently in Hamburg, Germany at the G-20 Summit.
We’ve landed in Germany and are looking forward to productive discussions at the G20 Hamburg Summit! #POTUSatG20 #G20 pic.twitter.com/ThCw9VERpw
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) July 6, 2017
Benitez was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation, Cops said. He is charged with weapon possession and for having a fake ID.
Ivanka and First Lady Melania Trump were trapped in their Hamburg residence due to security concerns over ongoing protests outside the G-20 Summit on July 7.
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This is not the first time President Trump or his family has had potentially threatening encounters. There have been multiple threats toward the Trump family including Florida resident Dominic Puopolo, 51, who posted a video in January threatening to assassinate the president at his inauguration ceremony with a Wesley Scopes Booth high-powered rifle.
Concerned citizens and media outlets have pointed to the multiple celebrities who have “joked” about killing Trump, including comedian Kathy Griffin, who posed ISIS style with a mock severed head of the president and posted it on Twitter.
Actor Johnny Depp, on June 24th, made a controversial allusion to Abraham Lincon’s assassination when he asked the crowd at the Glastonbury arts festival in England, “when was the last time an actor assassinated a president?”
Such celebrities have received major backlash on social media, with some losing their sponsors, and even their jobs.
Depp apologized in a written statement for “the bad joke,” calling it “in poor taste.”
“It did not come out as intended, and I intended no malice. I was only trying to amuse, not to harm anyone,” he said in the statement.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said she was “sick of celebrities getting away with such disgusting comments.”
No joke about killing @POTUS is acceptable. I’m sick of celebrities getting away with such disgusting comments. https://t.co/8gPifbrMmJ
— Ronna RomneyMcDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) June 23, 2017
