Once again, Donald Trump has become a target, a few months before Americans go to the polls to elect the new US president.
Ryan Wesley Ruth, 58, a former contractor, was found hiding in bushes near Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, two months after an assassination attempt on the former US president left him injured.
Trump was on the field a few hundred yards away when Secret Service personnel spotted the 58-year-old and opened fire. The suspect fled in a vehicle and was arrested during a traffic stop, while a rifle with binoculars, a camera and two backpacks were found in the bushes. It was not yet clear whether the suspect had fired shots, according to the Secret Service.
“He should be shot”
Ryan Wesley Ruth had expressed a desire to fight and die in Ukraine, the FBI said. His posts on X revealed, according to the New York Times, a trend of violent rhetoric in the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. “I am willing to fly to Krakow and go to the border of Ukraine to volunteer and fight and die,” he wrote.
Between 2019-2020, Ruth had given more than $140 to the ActBlue Democratic fundraising platform, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show. In an interview with Newsweek Romania in 2022 he said he helped recruit foreign volunteers to fight for Ukraine.
In a telephone interview with The New York Times in 2023, when Ruth was in Washington, he spoke with the confidence of a seasoned diplomat who believed his plans to support Ukraine’s war effort were certain to succeed. But he was losing patience with anyone who he thought stood in the way of his plans. When an American fighter appeared to speak disparagingly to him in a Facebook message he shared with The New York Times, Ruth said: “he should be shot.”
The suspect in Donald Trump’s assassination attempt, Ryan Wesley Routh, was interviewed by Newsweek Romania in 2022. According to the report, he helped recruit foreign volunteers to fight for Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/9qrJUh8srK
— Mark Kennedy (@RealMarkKennedy) September 15, 2024
Biden: There is no room for political violence
Joe Biden was informed of the incident and said he was relieved that Trump was not injured.
“I am relieved that the former president is safe and sound. There is an investigation into this incident, as police authorities gather more details about what happened,” he initially said.
“As I have said many times there is no place for political violence or any violence ever in our country and I have instructed my team to continue to ensure that the Secret Service has every resource, capability and safeguard necessary to ensure the continued security of the former president.”
For her part, Trump’s co-candidate Kamala Harris said she was “deeply disturbed” by the assassination attempt on Trump. He condemned “political violence” and lined up with Biden, saying he supports his effort to “make sure the Secret Service has every resource” to carry out its mission.
#JUSTIN : Trump is reported to be safe following gunshots fired in his vicinity at Trump National Golf Club.
The Secret Service is responding to a shooting near Donald Trump as he left his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.#Trump #GunShot #Shooting #WestPalmBeach #Gunfire… pic.twitter.com/8Is7Aduobx
— upuknews (@upuknews1) September 15, 2024
#man #kill #Trump
