Driver removed from presidential motorcade after gun found in bag
The driver was not allowed to enter Mar-a-Lago.
— -- A driver of one of the press vans in the presidential motorcade was found Monday to be carrying a personal handgun.
The gun was discovered in a bag belonging to the driver during a routine screening at the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump has been spending the long weekend.
According to a reporter who witnessed the incident, the driver said he had forgotten to leave the firearm in his personal car.
The driver was detained for questioning by the Secret Service and was not allowed to enter the president’s property. The other van drivers were also removed from the motorcade and White House staffers drove the vans instead.
One of the press vans, driven by a staffer, subsequently got into a fender bender with a government SUV in the parking lot of the president’s club.
The Secret Service said in a statement that the matter has been resolved after the driver was "briefly detained" and the incident was investigated by local authorities and the Secret Service.
“The individual was found to be in lawful possession of a prohibited item (firearm) outside the secure area at a Secret Service security screening checkpoint," the Secret Service said in the statement. "The incident was investigated by the Secret Service and our partners at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) and resolved. At no time was any Secret Service protectee in danger or impacted. All Secret Service security measures worked.”