Former US President Donald Trump suffered this Sunday a new assassination attempt after an individual, who was detained by the Secret Service and did not shootapproached the golf course where the Republican candidate was playing, armed with an AK-47 rifle with telescopic sights.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that what happened at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, is being investigated as an apparent “attempted murder.”
The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. (17:30 GMT) and the first thing that was known, from the Republican campaign, a few minutes later, was that the former president (2017-2021) was fine.
“There were shots fired near me, but before the rumors start getting out of hand, I want you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND OK!” Trump himself noted shortly after in a statement. «Nothing will stop me. I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!»he added.
At a press conference held around 17:00 (21:00 GMT), Sheriff Ric Bradshaw offered the first official details and it was learned that It was Secret Service agents who saw a man with a rifle standing next to the fence of Trump’s golf course, where he was playing, about 300-500 meters away..
Secret service
The Secret Service shot him and he ran out from among some bushes. where he was hiding, to the vehicle in which he tried to flee, a black van whose license plate a witness managed to photograph.
Thanks to this, The individual was arrested a few minutes later on the road aboard his vehicle.The gun was found in the bushes, along with two backpacks and a GoPro sports camera.
The identity of the suspect has not yet been officially made public, but both Fox News and the New York Post report that he has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh.
Law enforcement officials said at the news conference that the golf course is surrounded by bushes and that when someone hides in them, they are virtually “out of sight.” They said security is limited to the area the Secret Service deems feasible and that the organization “did what it had to do.”
In a statement, the White House said that US President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris were briefed “on the security incident.”
Saved
“They are relieved to know that he is safe. His team will keep them informed regularly.”the Presidency said.
Through X, Harris, who will face Trump in the November 5 election, said she was glad the former president was safe. “Violence has no place in the United States”he noted.
Also via X, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, explained that he spoke to him before the news was made public and that he was “surprisingly in good spirits.”
“There is still a lot we don’t know, but tonight I will hug my children very tightly and say a prayer of gratitude.”he noted.
The result of today’s assassination attempt has been very different from what happened on July 13, when Trump was injured during a rally in Butler (Pennsylvania), after a 20-year-old man shot him with a rifle, wounding him in the right ear.
Cheatle
The Secret Service shot and killed the attacker, who fired from a high position outside the compound, where one member of the audience died from a gunshot wound.
The events led to numerous resignations due to security breaches, including that of the then director of the US Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle.
Cheatle eventually resigned ten days later over security lapses at the meeting, saying the assassination attempt was the agency’s “biggest operational failure” in decades.
Following this, the Secret Service approved a plan to increase Trump’s security, which includes the use of bulletproof glass screens at his outdoor events, as well as increasing the number of security personnel accompanying him. EFE
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