--- description: The man was arrested after trying to remove a police officer's gun from his holster. He says he intended to kill the Republican candidate. title: Man Arrested at Rally Says He Wanted to Kill Donald Trump image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d07a84bdf8f51f1/698898aa8e060159a44665f6/donald-trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Man Arrested at Rally Says He Wanted to Kill Donald Trump by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 20, 2016 9:06 PM CUT  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally on June 18, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally on June 18, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona.Ralph Freso—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 20, 2016 9:06 PM CUT A man who was arrested at a [Donald Trump](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/man-trump-rally-nv-threat "undefined") rally after trying to remove a police officer’s gun from his holster says he intended to kill the presumptive Republican nominee. Michael Steven Sandford told officers he had driven from California to Las Vegas for the event, and that he’d visited a shooting range earlier to practice, the Associated Press reports. He said it had been his intention to shoot [Trump](http://time.com/4374212/donald-trump-racial-profiling-muslims/ "undefined") on Saturday at the event at Treasure Island Casino. On Monday, a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Nevada charged him with an act of violence on restricted grounds. The AP says it’s not clear whether Sandford has an attorney. \[[AP](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/man-trump-rally-nv-threat "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4375644/donald-trump-rally-man-arrested-kill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4375644/donald-trump-rally-man-arrested-kill/"},"headline":"Man Arrested at Rally Says He Wanted to Kill Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-06-20T21:06:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:43:40.496Z","description":"The man tried to seize a Las Vegas police officer's gun","url":"https://time.com/4375644/donald-trump-rally-man-arrested-kill/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d07a84bdf8f51f1/698898aa8e060159a44665f6/donald-trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d07a84bdf8f51f1/698898aa8e060159a44665f6/donald-trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Phoenix, Arizona","caption":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Phoenix, Arizona","creditText":"Ralph Freso—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4375644/donald-trump-rally-man-arrested-kill/","name":"Man Arrested at Rally Says He Wanted to Kill Donald Trump"}}]}] ```