Judge ruled Jeanine John Taele, discovered with firearm days before Trump visit, was unfit to face felony charge
A judge in California has suspended criminal proceedings against a man found with a loaded gun near Donald Trump’s golf course in Los Angeles, and instead ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation.
Jeanine John Taele, 38, of Downey, California, was arrested for weapons violations days before the president spoke at a 5 August Republican fundraiser at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.
A justice department press release dated 4 August said he was found at the club with ammunition on his person and a loaded firearm in his pickup truck. A felony charge of possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle carries a statutory maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
On Wednesday, however, Judge John Lonergan of the Los Angeles county superior court ruled Taele was unfit to face the charge and ordered an evaluation by a separate mental health court to determine if criminal proceedings could resume.
According to the New York Times, Taele appeared in court wearing a suicide prevention gown while his attorney, Anthony Bayne, argued that his client was unable to understand or participate in the hearing.
Lonergan ordered Taele, a former marine, to be held in custody pending the evaluation.
Prosecutors have not commented on the case since the announcement of Taele’s arrest earlier this month. At the time, Bill Essayli, first assistant US attorney for the central district of California, said the investigation was at an early stage.
“While we are still investigating the motives of this individual, we are thankful he was apprehended before the president’s visit,” he said.
“Federal and local law enforcement stepped in early and prevented what could have been a dangerous situation from occurring. This investigation remains ongoing.”
The press release gave a detailed chronology of Taele’s movements in the days leading up to Trump’s visit. He was first spotted at the golf club on 31 July, prosecutors said, wearing an earpiece and taking photographs and videos as he walked the course.
He returned two days later, they said, and golf club staff alerted federal security personnel, who contacted the LA county sheriff’s department. Deputies discovered Taele had an active warrant for a robbery in El Segundo, and they found a 16-round magazine of hollow-point ammunition in his pants during a search.
A loaded 9mm pistol with a loaded magazine containing hollow-point ammunition was found in his vehicle, detectives said, along with a pair of binoculars and a badge that read “security protection agent”.
At his residence, they discovered “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”.
The release did not elaborate on what the statements said.
Taele served in the marines from 2008 and 2016, and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Times said, citing military records.
In February, Ryan Routh, who was convicted of trying to assassinate Trump at a Florida golf club in September 2024, was sentenced to life in prison.
His trial heard that Routh had spent weeks plotting and staking out the president’s golf club near West Palm Beach, and planned to shoot Trump from a hideout behind shrubbery.
