‘Never sensed danger’: Friends ponder Mar-a-Lago gunman’s motive — and anger over Epstein

The young man who drove from North Carolina to south Florida and breached the perimeter of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort while armed with a shotgun and gas can, and was killed by law enforcement, was a quiet and sensitive community college student from a conservative background, those who knew him said.

“I never got weird energy from him,” one former classmate told Raw Story. “I never sensed any danger.”

But as the FBI attempts to establish what led Austin Tucker Martin to his death in the early hours of last Sunday, reports and social media posts by acquaintances reviewed by Raw Story suggest the 21-year-old was concerned about the ongoing publication of files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his links to powerful people — including President Trump.

One former classmate said Martin “did what he did in retaliation for what’s being allowed in this government.”

‘Shooting position’

As in the cases of Thomas Matthew Crooks and Ryan Routh, would-be assassins who targeted Trump in 2024, attempts to establish Martin’s motive continue.

Crooks was shot dead after using an assault rifle to shoot at Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024, wounding the president’s ear. Routh, who that September lay in wait for Trump at one of his golf courses in West Palm Beach, Florida, was recently sentenced to life in prison.

In Martin’s case, the FBI investigation of his fatal arrival at Mar-a-Lago has included a tracing of the route the 21-year-old took to Florida, before allegedly driving through a gate at Trump’s resort at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Trump was not in residence at the time.

Encountering two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy, Martin raised the shotgun “to a shooting position,” investigators said.

In response to an inquiry from Raw Story, an FBI spokesperson declined to clarify whether the shotgun was loaded.

Investigators are also scrutinizing purchases and interactions with others, interviewing family and friends, and looking at social media, according to the FBI.

‘So shocking’

Around the time Martin showed up at Mar-a-Lago, a relative reportedly contacted the Moore County Sheriff’s Office to report him missing.

Moore County is renowned for its world-class golf courses and as a bedroom community for military veterans drawn to the area by nearby Fort Bragg.

Martin attended Sandhills Community College, where he was pursuing an associate degree in architectural engineering, a spokesperson confirmed to Raw Story. He had also worked at a local golf course.

Emily Witham, who graduated alongside Martin from Union Pines High School in 2023, recalled a classmate in her senior English class who was quiet and kind.

Based on a shared interest in art, Witham said, Martin asked for her social media usernames. The two exchanged messages on Snapchat, and Martin sent Witham comic-book style renderings of superheroes and rockets.

“I never got weird energy from him,” Witham told Raw Story. “I never sensed any danger. This was so shocking to me that something like this would happen so close to home.”

Although Witham said Martin didn’t speak about political beliefs, she told Raw Story she took him to be “probably a more conservative person, based on the area where we live. He was a Southern kid.”

Another former classmate, Keegan Platte, wrote in a Facebook post reviewed by Raw Story that Martin was a “heavily conservative Trump supporter” when he knew him as a freshman.

In the 2024 election, Moore County heavily favored Trump, giving him 64.1 percent of the vote compared to 34.7 percent to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

In 2022, Moore County was the site of an attack on two electrical substations resulting in a widespread power outage apparently timed to disrupt a drag show at a local theater. The event drew protests, with many opponents falsely accusing drag performers of “grooming” children.

The substation attack, which remains unsolved, was faulted for the death of an 87-year-old woman dependent on an oxygen machine.

‘Evil is real and unmistakable’

Witham said her boyfriend told her Martin appeared to have been upset by recent revelations about Epstein and his links to powerful people including President Trump.

A shotgun and a gasoline canister, in a photograph released by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. PBSO/via REUTERS

According to a text message obtained by TMZ, Martin told a coworker: “I don’t know if you read up on the Epstein Files, but evil is real and unmistakable.

“The best people like you and I can do is use what little influence we have,” Martin wrote. “Tell other people about what you hear about the Epstein files and what the government is doing. Raise awareness.”

Platte wrote on Facebook that he believes his former classmate at Union Pines High School “did what he did in retaliation for what’s being allowed in this government.”

Platte also hailed Martin as a “soldier,” saying that he “went out a hero, in my book, even if he didn’t succeed in his mission.”

Epstein was once a frequent guest at Mar-a-Lago, and although he and Trump reportedly severed ties in mid-2000s, their close association has become a source of increasing vexation for the president and his administration.

While no evidence has emerged that Trump’s association with Epstein involved criminal wrongdoing on the president’s part, NPR recently found that the Department of Justice withheld some files referencing allegations that Trump abused a minor from its congressionally mandated release of materials related to the Epstein case.

Raw Story was unable to reach Martin’s family members. A voicemail message recorded by Christina Fields, Martin’s aunt, said, “Please respect our family’s privacy as we grieve the loss of a family member, and do not leave any media inquiries on this voicemail.”

‘In the back’

Martin’s digital footprint appears to be limited to a Facebook page displaying his meticulous pencil drawings.

He received a tour of the Golf Club at Quail Ridge in Sanford, N.C. from the head golf pro about a year ago, after requesting permission to draw the greens, Chuck Smith, a club owner, told Raw Story.

Martin offered to split proceeds from selling the drawings and three were displayed in the gift shop, Smith said.

Smith said that after he learned about Martin’s death at Mar-a-Lago, he took the drawings down and stashed them “in the back.”

Smith said Martin worked at a different golf course: Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines.

A person who answered the phone at the front desk there hung up when asked about Martin. The club’s general manager did not respond to an email.

Agents from the FBI Charlotte office have searched the residence where Martin lived with his parents in Cameron, N.C. The FBI also appears to have taken an interest in Sandhills Community College, where Martin was a student.