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Attempts for Repatriation of UK Man in Trump Gun Incident | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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The moment Michael Sandford is led away by cops after allegedly attempting to take an officer’s gun at rally where Donald Trump was speaking. AP


London-The mother of an “autistic” British man detained in the United States for allegedly trying to wrestle a gun from a police officer at a Donald Trump rally has launched a campaign to bring her son back home.

Lynne Sandford, told a news conference in London on Tuesday that her son Michael, 20, “is extremely vulnerable and I don’t think he will survive being incarcerated in a U.S. prison.”

“Michael is an autistic man who would not have foreseen the consequences of his actions,” she said. “He has attempted suicide when he was 14 and has suffered from depression throughout his life.”

Sandford said she has launched a campaign to have her son repatriated to Britain so he could be treated in a secure medical facility.

“It’s not clear that Michael actually understands what he has done,” said Saimo Chahal, the family’s British lawyer, speaking alongside Lynne Sandford.

“Because of his Asperger’s, OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and other psychological conditions there is a question mark over whether he’s fit to plead and to undergo the trial process in the States,” she said.

Chahal told reporters that the top priority was “to try and secure Michael’s repatriation to the UK so that he could be assisted in a medical facility.”

Sandford has pleaded not guilty to charges of disrupting government business and being an illegal alien in possession of a gun, and his trial is due to begin on August 22.

He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fines for each of the charges.