Ex-Marine arrested at Trump golf course with loaded gun deemed mentally unfit for trial
Criminal proceedings against Jeanine Taele, 38, were suspended after his attorney said he could not understand the charges against him.
Criminal case halted for armed suspect detained at Trump's California golf club
A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday temporarily suspended criminal proceedings against a former U.S. Marine who was arrested earlier this month while walking the grounds of Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, carrying live ammunition in his pocket, Courthouse News Service reports.
Jeanine John Taele, 38, appeared in a Torrance courtroom wearing a blue suicide gown. His public defender, AJ Bayne, told Superior Court Judge John Lonergan that Taele "wasn't able to understand the nature" of the charges and could not meaningfully participate in his own defense.
Lonergan agreed there was sufficient doubt about Taele's mental competency, pointing in part to statements the defendant had recently made — including a false claim that he had worked for the U.S. State Department for the past 14 years. Taele was ordered to appear at the Hollywood mental health courthouse for evaluation on Sept. 9. Criminal proceedings are expected to resume thereafter.
"They have to stabilize him, if that's the issue," Bayne said to reporters after the hearing. "If there is some kind of mental component to this action." He added: "He's a veteran. He served our country. He has a family who loves him. I've had no problems with him. He's a good guy."
Taele completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in the late 2000s, earning multiple military medals. Until recently, the Downey resident was employed as a licensed armed security guard.
Two visits before the president arrived
According to prosecutors, Taele visited Trump's public Southern California golf course twice ahead of the president's scheduled appearance for a fundraiser. During his second visit, golf course staff observed him photographing Secret Service agents while wearing a radio earpiece. Deputies found a round of ammunition in his pocket. A search of his pickup truck revealed a loaded 9mm pistol containing hollow-point ammunition, alongside binoculars and a badge reading "security protection agent."
A U.S. Department of Justice affidavit states that federal agents first spotted Taele on July 31 during a security sweep before Trump's planned Aug. 4 appearance. He was seen filming and photographing security preparations, noticed the agents watching him, and left quickly. He returned Aug. 2 and was identified by golf course staff, who alerted authorities. When federal agents approached him, Taele told them he was working for the department. Sheriff's deputies who arrived on scene recognized him as a suspect wanted in connection with a robbery in El Segundo.
A subsequent search of Taele's residence, prosecutors say, "led to the seizure of an illegally modified AR-platform rifle, other firearms, body armor, high-capacity magazines, an earpiece, two radio signal devices and multiple notebooks containing concerning statements."
208-page notebook cited as 'alarming'
On Wednesday, Lonergan described in detail one of those notebooks — a 208-page document containing drawings and sketches of locations including the Palos Verdes site, lists of Secret Service schedules, the first lady's schedule, and what the judge described as "a to-do list that indicated if someone was to go off the grid, what they would need to survive. It included a number of weapons."
Lonergan cited the notebook's contents in his decision to revoke Taele's previous $250,000 bail and order him held without bail. "It's alarming in this day and age, with violence that is creeping into our everyday lives," the judge said. "Especially with our partisanship."
El Segundo Police have also reportedly been investigating Taele in connection with a strong-armed robbery committed in November.
Multiple felony charges at state and federal level
The LA County District Attorney charged Taele with three firearm-related felonies — receiving a large-capacity magazine, possession of a short-barreled rifle, and robbery — as well as a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle.
Federal prosecutors filed a separate charge: one count of possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle, a felony carrying a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
Lonergan also referenced a separate incident in which Taele became agitated inside an AT&T store, coming to believe that an employee was wearing Meta smart glasses to "steal information." Later, he was reportedly "heard talking to himself while he watched vehicles come and go from a parking lot," according to the judge.
The date of Taele's next federal court appearance has not been set.
Source: Courthouse News Service