Photo: GrandForksHerald.com
A North Dakota man has pleaded guilty to stealing a forklift with the goal of using it to smash through the President’s motorcade, flip his limousine and ultimately kill him.
Gregory Lee Leingang, a 42-year-old from Mandan, N.D., was arrested in September 2017, just as Donald Trump was en route to visit a nearby refinery to deliver a speech. He was in court on Friday, where he pleaded guilty and admitted to plans of killing POTUS.
According to court documents obtained by Grand Forks Herald, Leingang knew that the President was coming and he wanted to use the opportunity to kill him. He stole the forklift from a factory and drove it on the route where the motorcade would later pass, thinking he could use it when the President’s limo, also known as The Beast or Cadillac One, would arrive to smash into it and flip it over.
He eventually became stuck in an area that had been gated off, which is when police and Secret Service caught him. He admitted to everything during the following interviews and was charged in federal court with one count of attempting to damage government property and one count of attempting to enter or remain in a restricted building and on grounds while using a dangerous weapon, according to the publication.
“The intent was to basically try to get to the limo, flip the limo, and get to the president, and he wanted to kill the president,” US Assistant State’s Attorney Brandi Sasse Russell says for the same media outlet.
Leingang pleaded guilty to all charges and is now looking at a long stretch behind bars, with the most likely release date in 2038. He’s also been sentenced for starting 2 fires in separate locations on the day he stole the forklift, presumably also because of the POTUS’ imminent visit.
Leingang’s attorney has told the court that her client suffers from ADHD and bipolar disorder, for which he’s been on and off medication since 12. During his planned attack on the President, “he was suffering a serious psychiatric crisis,” she told the judge.
According to court documents obtained by Grand Forks Herald, Leingang knew that the President was coming and he wanted to use the opportunity to kill him. He stole the forklift from a factory and drove it on the route where the motorcade would later pass, thinking he could use it when the President’s limo, also known as The Beast or Cadillac One, would arrive to smash into it and flip it over.
He eventually became stuck in an area that had been gated off, which is when police and Secret Service caught him. He admitted to everything during the following interviews and was charged in federal court with one count of attempting to damage government property and one count of attempting to enter or remain in a restricted building and on grounds while using a dangerous weapon, according to the publication.
“The intent was to basically try to get to the limo, flip the limo, and get to the president, and he wanted to kill the president,” US Assistant State’s Attorney Brandi Sasse Russell says for the same media outlet.
Leingang pleaded guilty to all charges and is now looking at a long stretch behind bars, with the most likely release date in 2038. He’s also been sentenced for starting 2 fires in separate locations on the day he stole the forklift, presumably also because of the POTUS’ imminent visit.
Leingang’s attorney has told the court that her client suffers from ADHD and bipolar disorder, for which he’s been on and off medication since 12. During his planned attack on the President, “he was suffering a serious psychiatric crisis,” she told the judge.
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