Was A Hunting Stand Set Up To Target President Trump? The 'python Cowboy' Has Doubts

Last month, FBI Director Kash Patel announced that nan Secret Service discovered a “suspicious” hunting stand adjacent Palm Beach International Airport pinch a nonstop show statement to wherever President Donald Trump exits Air Force One.

“The FBI has since taken nan investigatory lead,” Patel said successful a statement, “flying successful resources to cod each grounds from nan segment and deploying our compartment telephone analytics capabilities.”

Now, 2 weeks later, a Florida reptile huntsman who calls himself nan Python Cowboy says he’s convinced nan FBI is barking up nan incorrect tree.

Mike Kimmel, proprietor of Martin County Trapping and Wildlife Rescue, told NBC News that nan elevated guidelines has been location for years and nan only enigma is whether it was group up by a hunter, birder aliases wildlife photographer.

“When we had first seen it, Joe Biden was president,” Kimmel said. “And it looked aged and dilapidated astatine nan time. It ne'er gave for illustration a suspicious vibe.”

A master trapper for complete a decade, Kimmel operates crossed confederate Florida, removing invasive type for illustration Burmese pythons, greenish iguanas and feral hogs. He besides guides hunting trips, pinch nan thief of his specially trained dogs — Trouble, Rooster and Rowdy, among others.

The waterways surrounding nan Palm Beach airdrome are good known to Kimmel. They are premier spots for hunting iguanas.

Mike Kimmel displaying a monolithic iguana caught astatine a section play people successful 2023, pinch nan thief of his canine named Rogue.Courtesy Mike Kimmel

Kimmel said he first noticed nan character guidelines identified by Patel a mates of years ago.

“It ne'er crossed our minds that it would beryllium utilized by personification taking a changeable astatine nan president aliases thing for illustration that,” Kimmel said.

In July 2024, a would-be assassin managed to fire respective rounds astatine Trump during a run arena successful Butler, Pennsylvania, striking him successful nan ear. Two months later, nan Secret Service arrested a man who was spotted hiding successful nan bushes, pinch a rifle, astatine nan Trump International Golf Club successful West Palm Beach. A Florida assemblage successful precocious September found him guilty of trying to assassinate Trump.

Kimmel said nan Secret Service reached retired to him aft nan first assassination effort and told him to refrain from going connected hunts successful nan area for nan adjacent week aliases so.

“We respected that,” he said. “We’re retired location pinch aerial guns and everything. It tin look suspicious.”

If you walk arsenic overmuch clip successful that area arsenic he does, Kimmel said, there's plentifulness of different things that you could see.

“There’s bum camps retired there,” he said. “There’s each kinds of trash. I recovered a dormant assemblage retired there. The character guidelines is simply a very mini blip.”

“I deliberation nan FBI is wasting their time,” he added.

One of Kimmel’s hunting guides, Joseph “JR” Entry, besides recalled first seeing nan guidelines a mates of years agone and reasoning small of it. He said he and nan different guides find nan FBI’s abrupt attraction amusing and a spot perplexing.

“I deliberation it’s a large stink astir nothing, to beryllium honorable pinch you,” Entry told NBC News.

The U.S. Secret Service uncovered a suspicious hunting guidelines astatine nan Palm Beach International Airport pinch a nonstop statement of show to wherever President Donald Trump exits Air Force One.U.S. Secret Service

An FBI spokesperson said nan agency continues to analyse nan hunting guidelines materials for forensic clues astatine its laboratory successful Quantico, Virginia. So far, nan investigation has not identified immoderate individuals connected to nan enigma character perch, nan spokesperson added.

Kimmel’s exploits catching — and sometimes getting bitten by — elephantine pythons are the worldly of legend successful Florida.

The video clips he posts connected YouTube and Instagram — showing him belly-flopping onto pythons successful alligator-infested swamps and bagging serpents for illustration a pregnant 16-footer pinch 60 eggs successful its belly nan size of grapefruits — often tie thousands of views and media attention.

In 2024, he took a unsighted canine connected a hunt pinch him, and nan pooch nicknamed “Helen Killer” helped him snag a 9-foot-python that besides couldn’t see. The feat was chronicled successful nan Miami Herald, which described him arsenic “one of Florida’s best-known wildlife trackers.”

Four years earlier, Kimmel appeared connected Joe Rogan’s podcast and brought pinch him nan caput of a monster snake that astir sewage nan champion of him.

“I almost bled retired successful nan mediate of nan Everglades,” Kimmel told Rogan. “This snake — 17 ft 7 inches, 135 pounds. At nan time, that’s astir what I weighed, truthful it was a adjacent Everglades conflict royale.”

Kimmel said he understands why nan Secret Service would find nan character guidelines suspicious, fixed its proximity to an airdrome Trump frequents and nan truth that he has been targeted before.

But he thinks there's small chance moreover nan astir precocious method study would output overmuch of anything.

"It’s been conscionable sitting retired successful nan elements – pinch nan sun consecutive on, it rains – everything for illustration that,” Kimmel said. “I would ideate immoderate benignant of DNA aliases fingerprints would beryllium quickly eliminated disconnected of it, but that’s not my area of expertise."

From his perspective, nan authorities should person already moved on.

“I would expect them to analyse thing for illustration that for sure,” Kimmel said, “but I’d besides benignant of expect them to fig retired very quickly that it’s fundamentally nothing.”

“All you sewage to do,” he added, “is talk to us.”