Crime & Safety

Man Throws Smoke Bomb Outside Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Club: Report

A West Palm Beach man, Paul Brantly Rawls, told police that he was angry that he hadn't received a stimulus check, reports said.

A West Palm Beach man, Paul Brantly Rawls, told police that he threw a smoke bomb outside former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club because he was angry that he hadn’t received a stimulus check, reports said.
A West Palm Beach man, Paul Brantly Rawls, told police that he threw a smoke bomb outside former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club because he was angry that he hadn’t received a stimulus check, reports said. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

PALM BEACH, FL — A West Palm Beach man was arrested Sunday after throwing a smoke bomb outside former President Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago Club, 12 News reported.

Paul Brantley Rawls, 38, told police that he was angry that he hasn’t received a stimulus check yet, reports said.

He faces charges of making, possessing, throwing or discharging a destructive device, criminal mischief, and disorderly conduct, 12 News said.

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The U.S. Secret Service and Palm Beach Police responded to reports of a smoking device in the middle of South Ocean Boulevard. Two cars crashed trying to avoid the device, reports said.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad was called in to investigate and determined the device was a smoke bomb. Investigators were able to trace a car from surveillance footage to Rawls, reports said.

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