The man who authorities said breached the perimeter of Mar-a-Lago wielding a shotgun and a gas canister early Sunday had never shown an appetite for deadly weapons nor shown much interest in politics — in fact, quite the opposite, according to his cousin.
Austin Tucker Martin was “very quiet” and inexperienced with guns, his cousin Braeden Fields said. Martin did, however, like golf courses, and worked on one, his cousin said.
“He doesn’t even know how to use a gun. He’s never used a gun,” Fields told ABC station WTVD hours after Martin had been shot and killed while authorities say he was trying to enter President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the incident.
Braeden Fields, Austin Tucker Martin’s cousin, speaks to reporters on Feb. 22, 2026, in Moore County, North Carolina.
Patrick Priest/WTVD
“I’m a big hunter, and I’ve, I’ve had him around guns all the time, and he’s never used one. He won’t, he don’t like them. He don’t like it, it hurts his ears,” Fields said of his cousin.
Though Martin has an older brother in the military, his interests were elsewhere, Fields said.
“We took him to shoot guns, but he won’t touch them,” Fields said. “The only gun he’s used is a BB gun.”
As federal agents raided the family’s woodsy property in North Carolina, Fields said there had been no indication Martin would ever venture 700 miles south on any kind of political crusade.
What’s more, the family are “big Trump supporters,” Fields said. “All of us. Everybody.”
Martin “never really talked about — he didn’t want to get into politics,” Fields said.
“We grew up together, practically,” Fields said. “I never, I wouldn’t believe that he would do something like this. Mind-blowing.”
Martin worked at a golf course getting it ready for the season, Fields said, and liked to send his paychecks to charity.
A website registered to Martin shows a fledgling penchant for watercolor and ink artwork of golf courses. The company describes its focus on “bringing to life the hopeful feeling of being on a golf course.”
Martin’s family had reported him missing early Sunday, according to authorities. It was almost exactly the timeframe in which police say Martin breached Mar-a-Lago’s perimeter.
“On February 22, 2026, at approximately 1:38 a.m., a relative of 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin approached a deputy at a local business and reported him missing,” according to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office.
Police in Florida said the incident began at 1:30 a.m. when Mar-a-Lago security “detected that a individual had made his way into the inner perimeter.” When they went to investigate “they confronted a white male that was carried a gas can and a shotgun.”
Martin was entered into a national missing person database when his family reported him missing, according to the sheriff’s office. They were then told by federal authorities they were “conducting an active investigation in Florida involving Martin. At their request, the missing person case information has been turned over to federal investigators.”
Fields said Martin’s mother is “torn apart” by what has happened, and that he’s already seen people “bashing” his cousin all over social media.
“If no one really knew him, you wouldn’t get him,” Fields said. “He’s a good kid.”
ABC News’ Chris Looft, Gaby Vinick and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.
