Chinese Man Detained After Multiple Attempts to Trespass at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Estate

Illustration of a cyberattack.

[People News] A Chinese citizen attempted to enter President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, violating a no-contact court order issued after previous trespassing attempts. He was detained by police on Friday (November 8) on charges of illegal trespass.

According to Voice of America, 39-year-old Zijie Li (phonetic spelling) was ordered to be held at the Palm Beach County Jail without bail. He was arrested on Thursday after arriving at Mar-a-Lago’s entrance in an Uber. This incident is the latest in a series of encounters Li has had with police and Secret Service agents at or near Mar-a-Lago since July of this year.

Zijie Li, living in the suburbs of Los Angeles on a student visa, had just been discharged from a psychiatric hospital. He had been placed in the hospital after being found near Mar-a-Lago at the end of October. He now faces two misdemeanor charges of illegal trespassing.

Before Li’s latest arrest, there was an incident in July where a sniper nearly shot Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania. In September, an alleged would-be assassin tracked Trump at his Palm Beach County golf course. On the same Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had uncovered an Iranian plot to kill Trump.

During Trump's presidency, Mar-a-Lago experienced multiple cases of illegal entry, including incidents involving two Chinese nationals. None of these individuals appeared to intend harm.

According to a report from Palm Beach police, Li first tried to enter Mar-a-Lago in July, telling Secret Service agents he had information related to the attempted assassination in Pennsylvania. He was ordered to leave and not return.

The following week, police said Li made two more attempts to enter Mar-a-Lago and was subsequently arrested. He was charged with misdemeanor trespassing and released on bail, with a court order prohibiting him from approaching Mar-a-Lago or Trump.

Last week, Li approached a homeowner near Mar-a-Lago who had pro-Trump campaign signs in her yard. He asked if she was a member of Mar-a-Lago and whether she could bring him inside. She called the police, and Li was taken to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation.

Police said he was discharged on Thursday and soon returned to Mar-a-Lago. He was again arrested on misdemeanor trespassing charges, and his previous bail was revoked.

The Palm Beach County Public Defender's Office, which represents Li, declined to comment, as it typically does not discuss pending cases.

During Trump’s first term, Mar-a-Lago saw at least five incidents of unauthorized entry involving two Chinese citizens.

In August 2020, three teenagers fleeing police with a semi-automatic gun in a backpack jumped over a Mar-a-Lago wall. They were arrested immediately, and police stated they did not believe the teenagers knew where they were. Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago at the time.

In January 2020, two officers from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office fired at an opera singer from Connecticut who drove through a security checkpoint outside Mar-a-Lago during a mental health crisis. She was shot and arrested nearby. She was later found not guilty due to insanity and faced charges including aggravated assault on law enforcement, fleeing arrest, and non-violent resistance to arrest.

In 2019, Chinese citizen Yujing Zhang entered Mar-a-Lago with a laptop, phone, and other electronic devices, sparking initial speculation that she was a spy. However, she was never charged with espionage. Texts exchanged with an event organizer showed that Zhang was a Trump fan hoping to meet him or his family to discuss potential business deals. She was found guilty of trespassing and deported.

In December 2019, Mar-a-Lago security personnel encountered another Chinese citizen, 56-year-old Jing Lu (phonetic spelling), and asked her to leave for trespassing, but she returned to take photos. Lu was charged with loitering and non-violent resistance to police arrest. She was later found not guilty of trespassing but guilty of resisting arrest.

Over Thanksgiving weekend in 2018, a University of Wisconsin student visiting the area with his parents mingled with a group entering Mar-a-Lago and was arrested, later pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge.