PALM BEACH, Fla. — A 21-year-old man was shot and killed by Secret Service agents after breaching the grounds of Mar-a-Lago, raising new questions about security at President Donald Trump's private club in Palm Beach.
WATCH BELOW: 'I think anything is appropriate as long as our president is safe,' Karen Mozine tells WPTV's Joel Lopez
The incident has prompted calls from residents to strengthen protections around the property.
We dug into the security changes that have happened since President Trump has been in office.
In Trump's second term, air restrictions around Mar-a-Lago have become permanent, and the Coast Guard is responsible for keeping boaters away from the club.
WPTV's Joel Lopez asked the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office about foot traffic and uncovered that people are allowed to walk around the perimeter of Mar-a-Lago as long as there are no official road closures and as long as they do not go onto the property.
According to past WPTV reports, Mar-a-Lago has been breached at least 13 times since 2017.
WATCH BELOW: Mar-a-Lago has long history of security breaches
Willy Guardiola, the founder of Prolifers 4 Trump and supporter of the president said he has been watching news coverage of the incident since Sunday and was troubled by what he saw.
"I'm watching TV and I'm watching people going up there. It's like it's another day in paradise and it's like where's the security at? And this is like 48-52 hours ago and I thought for sure they were going to stop everybody," Guardiola said.
Guardiola said it is time to ramp up security on pedestrians around Mar-a-Lago, whether or not President Trump is in town.
"The world saw what this guy did and said wow he got pretty far into Mar-a-Lago. Somebody else that's really more prepared could breach the security even more," Guardiola said. "We have so many deranged people in this country right now who cannot stand just the name Trump. And they'll do everything and anything."
Lopez reached out to the Secret Service to see if they have any plans to increase security and received the following response from Secret Service spokesperson Matt Fagiana:
“The Secret Service cannot discuss the specific security posture of Mar-a-Lago while the President is visiting his Palm Beach residence. Although, we can say when the President is visiting Mar-a-Lago there are significantly more security measures in place to include road closures, waterway restrictions, flight restrictions, etc.”
The FBI is investigating the incident.
Jestin Nevarez, another supporter of President Trump, said he was left wondering how Martin got onto the property.
"You have the sheriff's office, you have Secret Service, you have all these people and security measures in place, it probably wasn't easy but it's a problem," Nevarez said. "What more can you do? You can have so much security in place, but at the end of the day it's the motive of these people who are trying to commit violence against our president. I just want political violence to stop."
We met Nevarez along the Southern Boulevard Bridge, which is less than 1,500 feet from Mar-a-Lago, along with his giant flags to support the president.
"It's kind of crazy to think that our president lives here," Nevarez said. "Luckily he wasn't here."
John and Karen Mozine who are visiting from Minnesota, said the incident is alarming.
Trump
A look at Mar-a-Lago's long history of security breaches
"It was shocking that someone could get in there that close and have a gas can and a shotgun," John Mozine said.
"It looks like they have a lot of security there now but we just heard on the news about the different breaches over the years," said John Mozine.
Taxpayers paid tens of millions of dollars last year to keep President Trump safe, and the question now is: what more can be done?
Palm Beach County staff told me the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office requested $45 million last year to keep the president safe, according to the Financial Management & Budget Office.
Karen Mozine said she supports whatever security measures are necessary to protect the president.
Trump
Mar-a-Lago security: Fatal shooting marks latest incident
"I think anything is appropriate as long as our president, whoever is president is safe. I don't know what that number is but obviously with the attempts on his life already, it's important. Where do you draw that line?" Karen Mozine said.
Karen Mozine said she hopes the weekend's incident sparks conversations about how to improve security.
"I don't care who is president, no one deserves to have his life threatened at any time," Karen Mozine said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
