Five things to know after gunman arrested in Trump assassination attempt at Florida golf course

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Police officers stand outside the Paul G Rogers Federal Building US Courthouse, on the day of court appearance for Ryan W. Routh, the reported suspect in an apparent assassination attempt on Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump, in West Palm Beach, Florida September 16, 2024. — Reuters pic

WEST PALM BEACH (United States), Sept 17 — Authorities yesterday charged a man suspected of plotting to assassinate Donald Trump with federal gun crimes.

Here are five things to know about the weekend incident, where the Secret Service discovered the gunman on Trump’s Florida golf course.

What happened?

At approximately 1.30pm (1730 GMT) on Sunday, a US Secret Service agent noticed the barrel of a rifle pointing out of shrubbery on the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach.

Agents, who were deployed in a moving security bubble one or two holes ahead of the former president, “engaged” the individual, the Secret Service’s Rafael Barros said, with the suspect fleeing.

The gunman did not “fire or get off any shots,” Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe told reporters Monday, adding that he had no clear line of sight on the former president at the time of the confrontation.

Police recovered a loaded semi-automatic rifle equipped with a scope, two backpacks, and a GoPro video camera from the scene, according to the criminal complaint submitted Monday.

The gunman was “between 300 and 500 yards (274 to 457 metres)” away from Trump when he was discovered, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.

“With a rifle and a scope like that, that’s not a long distance,” said Bradshaw.

The arrest

About 45 minutes later, police apprehended a suspect after receiving information from a witness who reported a man fleeing in a black vehicle.

It was identified by its registration information and spotted on the I-95 highway as it entered adjacent Martin County.

Authorities pulled over the car — whose tags belonged to a different, stolen, vehicle — and detained the suspect.

Phone records showed he had been waiting in the shrubbery overnight, according to the criminal complaint.

Who is the suspect?

Police identified the would-be attacker as Ryan Wesley Routh, whom AFP interviewed in Kyiv in 2022, where he had traveled to support the war effort against Russia.

Amid claims Routh is registered as a Republican or a Democratic voter, public records indicate he is currently neither.

Scattered social media posts on Routh’s since-suspended X account show his political opinions shifting over time, with support shown for both Trump and President Joe Biden.

In several posts earlier this year, Routh called for a Republican presidential ticket featuring entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. He most recently cast an in-person ballot during the 2024 Democratic primary.

Routh, 58, is reportedly a builder based in Hawaii, with an arrest record spanning decades and several states.

He regularly posted about politics and current events on social media, including criticism of Trump, US media said.

Tense election

The incident appeared to be the second assassination attempt on Trump, after an attack at a rally in July that left him slightly wounded in his right ear, with one rally attendee killed.

Since then, Trump has moved most campaign events indoors, and addresses audiences from behind a bulletproof screen.

His Democratic rival Kamala Harris has also taken to speaking from behind a screen.

Trump’s political rhetoric has always been aggressive, but his 2024 campaign has increased the temperature, with a focus on the hot-button issue of immigration.

Last week, the Ohio town of Springfield saw bomb threats called in after Trump riled his base against the town’s 15,000 Haitian migrant residents, falsely accusing them of eating people’s pets.

Secret Service in crosshairs

Sunday’s drama brings the spotlight back on the US Secret Service, which is tasked with the security of sitting and former US presidents.

The July rally attack on Trump raised questions about the Secret Service’s competence and led to the resignation of the agency’s director.

In Florida, the Secret Service had not secured the whole golf course, focusing on a zone around the president, Sheriff Bradshaw said.

“He’s not the sitting president. If he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded,” he said.

“But because he’s not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.”

Biden called for Congress to authorise more personnel for the agency. — AFP