A jury found a Chinese woman not guilty of trespassing at President Trump’s Florida resort.
Jing Lu, 56, was arrested in December after trying to enter Mar-a-Lago via the main gate. When she was turned away by security, she then walked to the resort’s service driveway and entered the property.
Security cameras captured her taking photos of the property with her cellphone, according to police documents.
She then fled on foot when security approached her. Police said she screamed, “No, no, no!” when they found her and tried to take her into custody.
Jurors did find Lu guilty of nonviolently resisting a police officer.
She was the second Chinese national arrested at Trump’s Palm Beach club in the last year. Yujing Zhang, 33, was found guilty in September of trespassing at the club and lying to federal agents about why she was there.
Prosecutors argued Lu intentionally intruded in a “calculated” and “planned” manner. Lu said she paid $200 for a Chinese guide to take her to various locations in southern Florida and that a language barrier prevented her from understanding the security guard’s orders to leave.
Lu, who spoke through a Mandarin interpreter, also said she was scared when officers approached her after she fled and that she didn’t know why she was being handcuffed.
Lu has been in custody since her arrest because her visa is expired. She faces up to one year in jail on the misdemeanor charge. Her sentencing is scheduled for Friday.
In addition to the Mar-a-Lago cases, at least four other Chinese nationals have been arrested in less than two years in South Florida.
Though none of the cases have resulted in charges of espionage or of acting as an agent of a foreign government, U.S. officials have increasingly warned of Chinese intelligence activities.
In an unrelated case, a Connecticut woman was arrested earlier this month after she led police on a chase, driving through two security checkpoints at Mar-a-Lago.
