Michigan man charged after claiming he had bomb, fleeing police outside Trump rally

DETROIT — A Sand Lake man was charged with a false threat of terrorism after claiming he had a bomb and speeding through a security checkpoint near President Donald Trump's rally Friday in Walker.

Steven Nauta faces four counts in Kent County: making a false threat of terrorism; possession of bombs with unlawful intent; fleeing a police officer; and assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer.

The man's bond was set at $1 million, CNN reported.

According to a Walker police affidavit obtained by CNN, Nauta was denied entrance at a traffic point outside the Walker rally, at which point he showed police a bottle and said it was a "C4" explosive and the "real deal."

Nauta, according to the affidavit, then sped past the traffic checkpoint, ignoring an officer's orders to stop. Police pursued Nauta and, when he eventually stopped, he threw fertilizer bags from inside his vehicle onto the ground to "make it appear that they were explosives," the affidavit said.

"Steven was ordered to the ground and again failed to comply with officer's commands to remain on the ground," the affidavit said. "Steven said that he intended to make officers, and others, believe that he had explosives."

Walker police in a Facebook post Monday said the incident took place toward the end of Trump's event and that Nauta eventually came to a stop in the parking lot of a nearby business. The Walker police department said Nauta never entered the parking area of the event location and no explosives were found in the man's vehicle.

"We are grateful for the efficient teamwork that ended this incident quickly, safely, and without interruption to the event or unneeded panic to it's attendees," the post said.

Of the charges Nauta faces, false threat of terrorism carries the highest penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine.

Nauta's arraignment comes the same day Ryan Wesley Routh pleaded not guilty to an attempted assassination of Trump at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. Authorities say Routh's plans were thwarted when a member of the former president's Secret Service detail spotted a rifle barrel protruding through the golf course fence line.

The agent fired toward Routh, who drove away and was arrested in a nearby county.

In July, gunman Thomas Michael Crooks fired at Trump during a Butler, Pa., rally from a nearby unsecure rooftop; the former president was hit in the ear. Last week, members of a bipartisan House task force investigating the attempt said that the Secret Service was responsible for planning and communications failures that allowed the gunman to open fire on Trump.

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