Aaron said federal and state authorities "have knowledge of Reinking due to previous interactions."
The Secret Service said Sunday afternoon that Reinking was arrested on July 7 and charged with unlawful entry "after crossing an exterior security barrier near the White House Complex." The Secret Service's Nashville Field Office and headquarters division were working closely with law enforcement involved in the shooting investigation, the statement added.
Reinking crossed a security barrier near some bike racks and refused to leave, Todd Hudson, the special agent in charge of the Nashville field office, said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.
"He wanted to set up a meeting with the president," he added.
After the incident, Illinois revoked Reinking's license to carry firearms and seized four guns — including the AR-15 that was used in the Waffle House shooting — at the request of federal authorities, Aaron said at a news conference later Sunday.
But Illinois authorities then returned those firearms to Reinking's father, who Aaron said admitted giving them back to his son.
The year before, Reinking had been charged with attempted suicide by firearm, law enforcement do ents show. The arrest occurred in a CVS parking lot on May 26 after Reinking told a Tazewell County sheriff’s deputy that Taylor Swift was harassing him and had hacked his Netflix account.
When the deputy and a police officer encouraged Reinking to go to a hospital for an evaluation, he refused and drove away, the do ents say. Reinking later returned and continued to describe his alleged encounter with the pop star.
When Reinking tried to leave again, the do ents say, authorities cited suicidal comments he'd made earlier to his family and a paramedic and placed him in protective custody.