The FBI is investigating a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, this time at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
According to reports, Secret Service agents discovered a man with an “assault rifle” and then fired multiple shots at the man.
West Palm Beach police later arrested Ryan Wesley Routh on Interstate 95 with an “assault rifle.”
The former president is unscathed.
detail
The New York Post reported that the man fled the Trump International Golf Club after police fired at him.
“Law officials told The Washington Post the suspect is a white man in his 50s believed to be from Hawaii,” the paper previously reported. “An assault rifle was recovered at the scene, previously reported to be an AK-47.”
Routh also appears to have intended to film the assassination on a GoPro camera that was in the possession of police at the time of his arrest.
“The Secret Service said it had not yet determined a motive, but sources told The Post that the suspect frequently posted on social media in support of Ukraine and Taiwan,” the paper previously reported.
He added:
The former president was at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach on Sunday around 2 p.m., and the shooter was spotted by advance guards a few holes ahead of Trump, sources told The Post.
Investigators fired multiple shots, and while initial reports indicated the suspect and investigators were shooting at each other, investigators believe only the investigators fired shots.
The Post also published images of Routh's rifle, GoPro and backpack.
Sources told CNN that Trump was between the fifth and sixth holes when the shots were fired. He was playing with donor Steve Witkoff.
In a campaign warning following the attempted terrorist attack, Trump wrote:
Gunshots were heard near me and I wanted you to hear this first before rumors spread and get out of control: I am safe and well!
Another Secret Service blunder?
One question is whether the Secret Service has once again let down their guard on Trump. West Palm Beach Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said Trump doesn't get the extra security because he's not the president. He explained at a press conference:
The golf course is surrounded by shrubs, so if someone goes into the shrubs, they can barely be seen.
At this level that he is at, he is not a sitting president. If he were, they would have this entire golf course under siege. But because he is not a sitting president, the security is limited to areas that the Secret Service deems possible.
There will probably be a few more people around next time he's on the golf course, but the Secret Service did exactly what they had to do.
This may be the second time the Secret Service has not provided security around an area where a former president might be targeted.
When Thomas Matthew Crooks hit President Trump in the ear and killed firefighter Corey Comperatore at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, police left the perimeter to local police.
