The British man who allegedly attempted to assassinate Donald Trump, is reported to told his father his motives was because "someone had to stand up for America."
Michael Sanford, 20, spoke to his father after he was able to visit with him at a Nevada prison last week.
The man, who has a history of mental illness is being held in solitary confinement. According to his family, he is "'bewildered, frightened and overwhelmed."
His father Paul Davey, 50, travelled to the US to speak to his son on Friday, and said he was deeply shocked by Michael's confession.
Mr Davey said: "I asked him what happened and he would only say that if Trump was elected, it would change the world and that somebody had to stand up for America."
Interviewed by the Daily Mail, Michael's parents described him as a bright young man, who has been troubled by mental health problems.
"He's never shown any violent tendencies before, he's never been a bad person, he's a nice kid and literally wouldn't hurt a fly - he used to tell us not to use fly spray because he didn't want any flies to die," Michael's father said.
His mother Lynne revealed Michael was detained at a psychiatric hospital in New Jersey after being found 'distressed' in a car on the first day of a two-week holiday in January last year.
And last month his mother alerted the authorities, after growing increasingly concerned for her son's welfare.
The Mirror reported that according to US documents, Sanford told arresting officers that he had planned the assassination for a year and expected to die as part of the assassination attempt.
Last night, his mother urged the US authorities to let her son return to Britain to receive psychiatric help.
"He's clearly a very troubled, disturbed person now," Lynne said.
"He was trembling in shackles in court. He's frail, he's thin.
"What he's done is completely out of character. Every message I've had from everybody who has ever known him says what a delightful person he is, how considerate, how charming, how polite. A jail certainly isn't the best place for him."
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Words by James Dawson
Feature Image Credit: Twitter / Ishmael Raoof
Topics: Donald Trump