UPDATE: “Suspicious Occurrence” Near President Trump’s Rally Site in New York

Initial reports indicated this morning that explosives had been found in a vehicle during a “suspicious occurrence” near the location of tonight’s rally in New York, with an overflowing crowd.

That initial information was apparently wrong:

Here’s the official from Nassau County PD on the explosive false alarm at the Trump rally.

Looks like a person who appears to have some mental issues with self training a bomb dog, and alerted cops to a false positive. pic.twitter.com/xPvTLb79Lt

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) September 18, 2024

Newsweek is now reporting that the Nassau Police Department has confirmed the following:

The Nassau Police Department confirmed to Newsweek Wednesday morning that its force responded to a “suspicious occurrence” near the location of former President Donald Trump’s rally site tonight in Long Island, noting that no explosives were located.

“We did respond to a suspicious occurrence in the vicinity of the Nassau Coliseum, however there was no validity of an explosive device being found,” a public information officer told Newsweek after a report about an explosive device at the rally site circulated online.

The officer added, “we’re unsure where this information originated, but we can confirm that no explosives were discovered.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service told Newsweek in a phone interview Wednesday morning that the alleged incident “has no nexus to the rally,” adding that the agency has “no reports of any incidents related to the rally.”

Though it does strike me as strange that some unknown individual is training a bomb-sniffing dog near the rally site, apparently randomly and without authorization — this seems to be a false alarm at this time.  We will continue to bring you news of the rally as the event draws closer.

UPDATE:  According to reporting by the New York Post, the person training the bomb dog actually reported falsely that explosives had been found:

“Reports of explosives being found at the site are unfounded,” the spokesman said in a statement.

Police said they were questioning a person “who may have been training a bomb detection dog near the site.

“The individual with the bomb dog falsely reported explosives being found and that individual is currently being detained by police,” the statement said.

The false reports came just hours after Trump arrived at his now-heavily guarded namesake Manhattan tower Tuesday night amid a boost in security following the two attempts on his life in as many months.

This is the current scene outside the rally venue in New York:

HAPPENING NOW: Incredible turnout for the Long Island Trump rally at Nassau Coliseum in New York

The rally doesn’t start until 7 PM, and you can already see thousands upon thousands of Trumpers gathering at the event.

Despite police allegedly finding two bombs at the site of… pic.twitter.com/5bEu8rs0lY

— Brother Mikey (@BrotherMikeyX) September 18, 2024