Reports that went viral on social media Wednesday morning about explosives found near the site of former President Donald Trump’s rally on Wednesday night in New York are false, law enforcement officials say.
The reports, which were amplified by popular accounts on X, claimed that explosives were found in a car near Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, where Trump is expected to address nearly 15,000 rallygoers.
“Reports of explosives being found at the site are unfounded,” said Nassau County Commissioner of Police Patrick Ryder. “There is a person who is being questioned who may have been training a bomb detection dog near the site. The individual with the bomb dog falsely reported explosives being found and that individual is currently being detained by police.”
The news came just a few days after there was a second assassination attempt on Trump at a golf course in Florida. On Sunday, the Secret Service noticed a rifle sticking out of the bushes and opened fire on the individual, who then ran to his car and fled. Police were able to track him down traveling northbound on Interstate 95 thanks to a witness who took a photo of his license plate.
A spokesperson for law enforcement on Long Island said that the person who was detained on Wednesday was a civilian and they were not affiliated with the upcoming event.
“We did respond to a suspicious occurrence in the vicinity of the Nassau Coliseum, however there was no validity of an explosive device being found,” a spokesperson told Newsweek.
During a press conference on Monday, Ryder said that the venue would be “the safest place in the country” on Wednesday night.
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