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Law enforcement officers on the scene after reports of shots fired outside Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump's Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15, 2024.
Trump safe after possible assassination attempt
Donald Trump is safe after a gunman was apprehended near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday. The FBI confirms that it “responded to and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.”
According to authorities, Trump was golfing between holes five and six when the incident occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. A member of the former president’s Secret Service detail spotted the barrel of a rifle pointing out from behind the tree line one or two holes ahead and fired at the suspect. It is not clear whether the suspect returned fire, but he fled in an SUV that was later stopped by law enforcement.
The suspect is now in custody and has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii. Routh reportedly voted for Trump in 2016 but in 2020 tweeted that, “I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment [sic] and it seems you are getting worse and devolving ... I will be glad when you gone.” Routh frequently posted about politics, expressing support for Republicans Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley. He is also listed as donating to Democratic candidates and causes dating back to 2019. “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose,” he wrote in an April 22 X post.
Routh’s social media accounts also described his “self-proclaimed involvement” in the war in Ukraine, including efforts to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight in the war against Russia. Routh headed the International Volunteer Center in Ukraine, a private organization seeking to “empower volunteers” and other non-profit groups that work to “enhance the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine,” according to the IVC's website.
Routh had also reportedly been arrested eight times for minor offenses in Greensboro, NC, where he worked in construction, and the AP reported that Routh was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction but could not provide details about the case. In 2015, he fled Greensboro police after a traffic stop and barricaded himself inside a roofing business with a fully automatic machine gun.
The suspect is now in custody, and the State Attorney reports that prosecutors are working up warrants, charges, and arrangements for pre-trial detention, none of which preclude the possibility of federal charges. The FBI recovered an AK47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks, and a GoPro attached to a fence, possibly intended to film the scene.
According to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Trump was approximately 300-500 yards from the shooter. “With a rifle and a scope like that, it’s not a long distance ... The Secret Service did exactly what they should have done.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the incident Sunday afternoon, and Harris expressed relief that Trump was safe, stating on social media that “violence has no place in America.”
In a fundraising email sent after the incident, Trump told supporters that “there were gunshots in my vicinity,” that he was safe, and that he “will NEVER SURRENDER.”