Trial of alleged Mar-a-Lago intruder offers latest peek into security protocols

Lu Jing, the Chinese woman accused of trespassing at Mar-a-Lago and resisting an officer without violence, unexpectedly testified in her own defense in a Palm Beach County court Tuesday, saying she was a harmless and confused tourist who walked through the open and unguarded main entrance of President Donald Trump’s private club and home to take pictures last year.

“It was an open gate that was very pretty,” said Lu, speaking at the trial through a Mandarin interpreter.

But perhaps equally surprising at the day-long trial was how much it revealed about security at the president’s primary legal residence. Testimony from Mar-a-Lago employees included the size of its private security staff (13 guards) and the precise locations of various motion-sensor security cameras.

A verdict is expected Wednesday.

Lu, who police say is in the country on an expired visa, faces the two misdemeanor charges, as well as eventual deportation.

Mar-a-Lago is operated by the Trump Organization as a members-only club and resort. It has become a prime tourist destination for Chinese visitors in the United States because of its association with the president, as well as the fact that Trump used it to host a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017.

“While [Mar-a-Lago] may be an attractive structure, it is a private club,” said Joseph Kadis, a prosecutor for the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office. “Ms. Jing was not a member, and was certainly not an invited guest.”

On the stand, Lu seemed to acknowledge that she realized she shouldn’t have entered the property on Dec. 18 after a security guard walked up to her and began gesturing.

“I feel that he didn’t want me to be there,” she said. Prosecutors jumped on that statement in cross-examination, pointing out that while she left, she then came back through a service entrance and continued taking photographs.

Lu also testified that she was scared when Palm Beach police later approached her on a downtown street because she does not speak English and said she panicked when officers attempted to take her into custody.

Defendants are generally advised not to testify in their own defense. When Judge Mark Eissey asked public defender Schnelle Tonge whether she had recommended her client testify, Tonge responded: “I would rather not answer that question.”

Lu’s testimony lasted more than an hour and was raucous and confusing, as she often responded to yes-or-no questions with extended answers. She and her interpreter frequently spoke over each other. She also stood up to physically re-enact her interactions with the security guard and police officers, and to recreate her movements that day by drawing them on a large piece of paper. Her testimony continued past 5 p.m and the court’s back rows gradually filled up with observers as other cases in the building finished for the day. Her stamina even outpaced her interpreter, who had to be relieved by a second Mandarin translator on hand in the courtroom to assist.

By the early evening, Lu sat weeping at the defense table.

Mar-a-Lago’s security protocols have come under scrutiny after several high-profile breaches. One involved another Chinese woman, Yujing Zhang, who made it inside the club March 13 without a valid invitation.

Then, earlier this month, a Connecticut woman driving an SUV was able to bypass Secret Service barricades near the club, leading law enforcement officers to open fire. Despite bullets tearing into her vehicle, she somehow managed to escape to the mainland before authorities could locate and arrest her.

The intrusions have come amid an ongoing investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami into possible Chinese spying in South Florida, including at Mar-a-Lago.

Lu’s defense Tuesday relied on her inability to speak English. Her attorneys argued she couldn’t understand that she wasn’t welcome at the club or why officers wanted to talk to her.

On Dec. 18, Lu was dropped off by a tour guide she had hired to show her South Florida’s most famous sites, Tonge said.

The 56-year-old Lu, wearing a black fanny pack, was “fascinated by the beauty of this place,” she said.

Secret Service was not present because Trump was not at the club. Private contractors hired by the Trump Organization normally run security.

Murray Fulton, a security guard, testified that he saw Lu enter the club from several hundred yards away, approached her and began making gestures that she had to leave, including crossing his arms in front of his chest and pointing her off the property.

She left — only to then enter club grounds through a service driveway around the corner. Lu testified that no one told her she couldn’t go through the side entrance and noted there were no signs forbidding entrance. Fulton approached her once more.

“I was telling her again she was going to get into a world of trouble,” he said in court.

She departed. Club staff called police in case she tried to return.

At the prosecution’s request, Fulton also pointed out the location of security cameras on the property, using an aerial photograph of Mar-a-Lago. Footage of his encounter with Lu was shown in court.

Richard Cartolano, who was installed as the club’s new director of security after the Zhang affair, testified that only members and their guests are allowed onto Mar-a-Lago.

After Lu left a second time, her tour guide drove her to Palm Beach’s high-end Worth Avenue shopping district, where she again started taking pictures, according to her public defenders. (Lu testified that she did not remember the tour guide’s name but paid him $200 and said he was Chinese.)

An officer with the Palm Beach Police Department approached Lu near a Salvatore Ferragamo store. He said he did not intend to arrest her but simply wanted to question her about the trespassing allegation.

“I had to use hand signals,” he said. “It didn’t appear that she spoke English.”

But Lu did not cooperate, Sgt. Michael Dawson testified.

Dawson said he briefly attempted to use a translation app on his phone but was unable to make it work, something not noted in a police report. He also called for backup.

Dawson and a second officer, Taylor Molinaro, said Lu still would not cooperate, crossing her hands over chest and crying “No! No! No!” when Molinaro tried to handcuff and arrest her. He testified that he subdued her before taking her to a station.

“What are you doing? What are you doing?” Lu recalled saying. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I just took a couple pictures.”

“I was very scared when I saw the handcuffs,” she said. “I didn’t know why they wanted to arrest me.”

Prosecutor Alexandra Dorman said the officers gave her “numerous opportunities” to comply.

In response to a question from the judge, Dorman also said no federal charges were brought because Trump was not at the club. (Zhang, in contrast, entered Mar-a-Lago while the president was in town and was convicted of lying to a federal agent and entering a restricted property.)

The specter of partisan politics hung over the proceedings. Palm Beach County voted solidly in favor of Hillary Clinton in 2016, and the president’s name was frequently invoked Tuesday.

From the eastward-facing windows of the West Palm Beach courthouse’s ninth floor, it almost felt possible to see the club, which sits near the southern tip of the island of Palm Beach.

During morning jury selection, two prospective jurors were dismissed after expressing doubts that they could approach the evidence impartially knowing the property belonged to Trump.

Another juror had a different concern.

“I’m wondering why we are here,” the man said while being questioned by the judge and lawyers for both sides. “It seems to me this should have been settled earlier. Trespassing? Slap on the wrist and go about your business.”

That juror was dismissed.