A brief panic broke out over claims that an explosive device had been found in a car.
New York State Police have denied reports that a bomb was found in a car inside the security perimeter of the site of an upcoming rally for US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The Republican presidential candidate is scheduled to speak at the Long Island venue, east of New York City, on Wednesday night.
“I was just told by Nassau County Police Department sources that ‘the perimeter was breached and a blue barrel was removed’ from the area surrounding the site of tonight’s Trump rally.” One America News (OANN) reporter James Lalino said in X.
According to Lalino's source, a police dog “They found an explosive device in one of the vehicles and the driver ended up running into the woods. No one saw if he had anything on him, they just saw him run away.”
However, Nassau County police later refuted Lalino's report.
“Reports of explosives being found at the site are unfounded,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told reporters. “There is a person who is being questioned who may have been training a bomb-sniffing dog near the site.”
“The individual with the bomb-sniffing dog falsely reported that explosives had been found and is currently in police custody.” Ryder added.
Thousands of Republican supporters have already lined up outside the Nassau Coliseum, where Trump is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. local time. Some are said to have camped out overnight to get good seats inside the venue.
Trump has moved his rallies indoors after surviving an assassination attempt at the July 13 outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooter fired at least eight shots, hitting Trump in the ear, killing one audience member and seriously wounding two others, before being shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.
The alleged bomb report comes just three days after the Secret Service intercepted a would-be assassin at Trump's golf course in Florida. Identified as Ryan Routh, the suspect fled the scene, leaving behind a long rifle with a scope.
Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have blamed Democrats' incendiary rhetoric for repeated attempts to end the Republican candidate's life. Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is his rival for the presidency in the upcoming November election, have called Trump a “threats to our democracy.”
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