Chinese citizen arrested after repeatedly trying to get into Trump's Mar-a-Lago
FILE - Police provide security at Mar-a-Lago on July 26, 2024. (Photo by Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)
A Chinese citizen was arrested after police said he repeatedly tried to get into former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.
According to the Palm Beach Post, Zijie Li, 38, of El Monte, California, claimed that he had documents that tie his home country's government to the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was killed by Secret Service agents after the bullets he fired struck Trump's ear, narrowly missing his skull, and hit three of his supporters, killing former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore.
Following the assassination attempt, the Secret Service increased security around Trump's estate and his other properties. The Palm Beach Post reported this also prompted the agency's decision to close South Ocean Boulevard next to Mar-a-Lago, effective on July 20.
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Li's first of several attempts to reach Mar-a-Lago was the night before, on July 19, when Li reportedly drove up to the estate's main entrance on South Ocean Boulevard in a gray Toyota Prius and told Secret Service agents that he had documents showing China was involved in the attempted assassination, according to an arrest report obtained by the Palm Beach Post.
However, Trump was not home at the time and was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the Republican National Convention.
Agents then reportedly told Li that he was trespassing and was not allowed on the property and the Palm Beach Police Department issued him a written warning, the report said. Police also told Li that he was not permitted to return to Mar-a-Lago, and if he did, he would be arrested.
Li's next visit to Palm Beach was July 22, where footage from town security cameras showed that he drove east and then west again over the Royal Park Bridge twice, first in the morning and then in the afternoon, the arrest report said.
Trump was at Mar-a-Lago that day, after returning from Wisconsin.
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Li was then spotted again on July 30, driving toward the security checkpoint for Mar-a-Lago, the report said. Police approached Li as he was blocking a lane of traffic and during the stop, an officer noticed that Mar-a-Lago's address was on Li's GPS system, according to the arrest report.
Li was released and left town, but returned less than an hour later when his car was spotted south of Mar-a-Lago on South Ocean Boulevard, the report said. This time, Palm Beach Police and Secret Service agents again stopped him and told him not to return to Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach Post reported.
But, police said, Li kept trying to get into the property.
Officers found Li and arrested him at an intersection north of Mar-a-Lago.
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Trump was not at home when Li was arrested, but the former president will return this weekend, according to a new Federal Aviation Administration notice.
Temporary flight restrictions are scheduled to go into effect at 7:45 p.m. Saturday, lasting through 10:45 p.m. August 9, for "VIP movement" in an area with Mar-a-Lago as its center, according to the notice posted Thursday.
The Palm Beach Post reported that Li is also not the first Chinese citizen to face charges for trying to gain access to Mar-a-Lago. A 32-year-old Chinese woman was arrested in 2019 after the Secret Service said she lied to get into the club and then claimed she wanted to talk to Trump about economic relations between China and the United States.
Court records also show Li used a Mandarin translator and that the judge gave him a no-contact order for Trump, anyone associated with him or his campaign, and for his Mar-a-Lago property.
Zi’s next court appearance will be on Monday, August 5.
Fox News' Heather Lacy contributed to this report.