Police identify suspect in break-in of Trump campaign office in Virginia

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Police in northern Virginia said Wednesday they were looking for a homeless man they suspect broke into an office of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said it has issued an arrest warrant for Toby Shane Kessler, 39, of no fixed address, on a burglary charge in connection with the break-in.

The sheriff’s office says Kessler was captured on surveillance video Sunday night forcing his way through a back door into the office building in Ashburn. The office is being leased by the Trump campaign and serves as headquarters for the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee. The suspect’s face was captured clearly on the surveillance video.

According to the sheriff’s office, Kessler spent a brief time in the office and it’s unclear whether he took anything. They do not believe he left anything behind.

Thomas Julia, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said Wednesday that it’s too early to say whether there was any political motivation to the break-in and that authorities will know more once Kessler is arrested.

The sheriff’s office said Kessler has a history of criminal behavior and appears to have been in the Washington metropolitan area since at least 2018. He has a California driver’s license.

Last month, Kessler was charged in neighboring Fairfax County with entering property with intent to damage, a misdemeanor, according to online court records. The attorney representing him in the Fairfax case did not immediately return a call Wednesday evening seeking comment.

Kessler’s name does not appear as a defendant in Loudoun County court records.