An armed man shot dead after driving into the secure perimeter of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida comes from a family of Trump supporters and became “obsessed” by the administration’s handling of the Epstein files.
Austin Tucker Martin, 21, was carrying a shotgun and fuel can when he was killed by Secret Service agents and a Sheriff’s deputy on Sunday morning in Palm Beach.
Martin’s cousin Braeden Fields reacted with disbelief calling the gunman “real quiet” and saying his family was almost entirely in favour of the US President.
Mr Fields said: “We are big Trump supporters, all of us. Everybody.”
On February 15, just a week before he died, Martin texted a co-worker at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in North Carolina about the Department of Justice's release of files related to late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
He said: “I don’t know if you read up on the Epstein Files, but evil is real and unmistakable.”
“The best people like you and I can do is use what little influence we have.
“Tell other people about what you hear about the Epstein files and what the government is doing about it. Raise awareness.”
Co-workers said that Martin, who was open about his Christian faith, was fixated on the Epstein saga and would talk about the elites “getting away with it”.
They also described him as increasingly frustrated by the state of the US economy and having fruitlessly tried to start a union at his place of work.
Mr Fields, 19, said of his cousin: “He’s a good kid.
“I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It's mind-blowing.
“He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun.”
Martin’s family in North Carolina reported him missing in the early hours February 22, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office said.
The department had no record of prior history concerning Martin.
Secret Service agents fired at him after they saw him “unlawfully entering the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago”, agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Martin was observed by the north gate and then shot after refusing orders, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw told a news conference: “The only words that we said to him was ‘drop the items’, which means the gas can and the shotgun.
“At which time he put down the gas can, raised the shotgun to a shooting position.”
At that point, agents fired their weapons to “neutralise the threat”, Bradshaw added.
The FBI is leading the investigation,
Trump and the First Lady, Melania Trump, were not at the residence.
The couple was in Washington, DC, on Saturday night for a dinner with state governors, although the president often spends the weekend at the resort where he golfs on Sundays.
Trump faced two assassination attempts during his presidential campaign.
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation.
