WASHINGTON — Virginia police on Wednesday released the name and photo of the suspect wanted for burglarizing a Donald Trump presidential campaign office.
Toby Shane Kessler, 39, broke into the Ashburn office, about an hour’s drive west of DC, on Sunday and has not been located by authorities, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said.
“The burglary occurred at approximately 8:11 pm and was captured by surveillance video inside the office,” the office’s statement said.
“The LCSO’s investigation determined that Mr. Kessler forced entry into a back door of the location and spent a brief period of time inside before leaving. He appears to have left nothing behind, and it is still unclear what, if anything, he took with him.”
The sheriff’s department said it is “working with other law enforcement agencies to locate Mr. Kessler and is asking [for] the public’s assistance.”
“Mr. Kessler has a history of criminal behavior and appears to have been in the Washington metropolitan area at least since 2018. He has a California driver’s license,” the office said.
Kessler faces an arrest warrant on one charge of burglary.
Although the suspect’s motives are unclear, the press release described him as having “no fixed address,” which likely means he’s homeless.
Political break-ins during elections have famously impacted US politics before and the Sunday incident immediately sparked questions about the motive — and occurred one day after the Trump campaign said it had been hacked by Iran’s government.
In June 1972, operatives linked to then-President Richard Nixon’s campaign burglarized a Democratic office in the Watergate complex in DC — sparking the scandal that forced Nixon to resign in August 1974.
In the 2016 campaign, Trump’s then-Democratic foe Hillary Clinton’s campaign staff were hacked and embarrassing emails were released, allegedly at the behest of the Russian government.
