A 19-year-old college student set off the metal detector trying to get into Trump Tower Monday evening. The Secret Service searched him and found quite the cache of weapons in his backpack. According to the New York Daily News, the stash included “a hunting knife, an M-100 firework, a Swiss Army knife, a flashlight, handcuffs, an 8-foot black rope, a clear water gun, a laptop and a wire typically used to strangle someone called a garrote.”
The student — identified as Alexander Wang, who is a finance student at Baruch College — reportedly told police that he’s actually a big Donald Trump fan, and just likes to hit the books in the president-elect’s skyscraper. He also mentioned to authorities that he always lugs around this stockpile in his knapsack, and that he’s visited Trump Tower about ten times after Election Day with said hoard, and, rather troublingly, never had an issue before.
Cops searched Wang’s apartment — which he shares with a roommate — on the Upper East Side, and found some more fireworks and an ammunition box. He’s been charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and illegal possession of fireworks. Police do not believe he has ties to any terror groups. According to the News, Wang allegedly called himself a “survivalist” who occasionally shoots off fireworks over the East River.
