Man in ski mask, armed with AK-47, arrested near site of Trump’s party meet

Days after the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, a 21-year-old man was arrested near the site of the Republican National Convention.

In Milwaukee after being found armed with an AK-47 pistol and wearing a ski mask, CBS News reported. The suspect was stopped by Capitol Police officers and Homeland Security Investigations near the Fiserv Forum on Monday, July 15, where the convention is taking place. Trump was slated to make an appearance at the convention later in the day.

According to Fox News, authorities became suspicious due to the man’s attire, which included a ski mask and a tactical bag. Upon inspection, the bag was found to contain an AK-47 pistol and a loaded magazine. The AK-47 pistol is a variant model of the famous rifle.

Milwaukee Police said the arrest occurred around 1 PM (local time) a few blocks away from the convention site. The suspect did not possess a valid concealed weapon permit in Wisconsin or any other state, they said.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing potential charges against the suspect, whose identity has not been disclosed.

The arrest comes on the heels of a deadly shooting at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania last week. The former president was giving a speech when a gunman opened fire.

One rallygoer was killed in the shooting, while two others were injured. Trump escaped with a scrape to his ear. The shooter, 21-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed by Security Service.

Trump received a rapt ovation on Monday evening when he showed up in the convention hall with a bandage on his right ear, signalling how close he came to losing his life when a lone shooter on a roof fired at him.

He had solidified the Republican ticket on day one of the four-day convention, announcing JD Vance, a 39-year-old Senator from Ohio and a one-time harsh critic turned uncompromising supporter, as his running mate.

Meanwhile, several of Trump’s fiercest challengers from the primaries are expected to take the stage at the RNC to throw their weight behind the official US presidential candidate.

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump’s one-time rivals, will address the convention’s 2,400 delegates today and endorse Trump’s bid for the presidency.