US MEDIA OUTLETS and law enforcement officials have named Ryan Wesley Routh as the suspected would-be assassin of Donald Trump after he was arrested in Florida last night.
This is the second attempt on Trump’s life during his campaign for the White House, after he was shot in the ear during an outdoor campaign rally last July.
US media said it was Routh, 58, who was arrested after US Secret Service agents “opened fire on a gunman” carrying an AK-47 style rifle near the boundary of Trump’s Florida course where the former president was golfing.
The suspect had bolted out of the shrubbery where he had been hiding and escaped in a black car before he was tracked down by authorities. The FBI has said the incident appears to be “an attempted assassination of former President Trump”
CNN and CBS reported Routh was a self-employed affordable housing builder in Hawaii who had an arrest record spanning decades and regularly posted on politics and current events, including sometimes criticizing Trump, the Republican presidential candidate.
Trump had been taking a day off from the campaign trail and was playing golf with a fellow real estate investor and landlord at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Local authorities said the gunman was about 450 metres away from Trump, laying in wait in the shrubs lining the course.
Ric Bradshaw, sheriff of Palm Beach County, said that when people get into the shrubbery around the course “they’re pretty much out of sight”. Bradshaw said the entire golf course would have been lined with law enforcement if Trump were the sitting president, but because he is not, “security is limited to the areas the Secret Service deems possible”.
Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close friend of the former president’s, said on air that he had spoken to Trump and his golf partner, Steve Witkoff, a real estate investor and landlord based in Trump’s native New York.
They told Hannity they had been on the fifth hole when they heard a “pop pop, pop pop”. Within seconds, he said Witkoff recounted, Secret Service agents “pounced on” Trump and “covered him” to protect him.
Moments later, Witkoff said, a “fast cart” with steel reinforcement and other protection was able to whisk Trump away.
Trump’s protective detail has been higher than some of his peers because of his high visibility and his campaign to seek the White House again. His security was bolstered days before the July assassination attempt in Pennsylvania because of a threat on Mr Trump’s life from Iran, US officials said.
In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”
His running mate, JD Vance, and US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said they had spoken to Trump after the incident. Both said he was in “good spirits”.
Trump also checked in with several Fox News hosts.
Sean Hannity said Trump’s reaction after this happened – and when it was clear that everyone, including Witkoff, was safe – was to quip that he was sad he had not been able to finish the hole since he “was even and had a birdie putt”.
Meanwhile, Trump’s opponent in the election race, Vice President Kamala Harris, said she was “deeply disturbed” by the news in a social media post.
The White House said President Joe Biden and Harris would be kept updated on the investigation into the incident.
The White House added it was “relieved” to know Trump is safe.
I am deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today. As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more to violence.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) September 16, 2024
Read my statement: pic.twitter.com/JcuKJPHYdA
Routh was interviewed by news agency AFP in 2022 in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, while he was taking part in a demonstration in support of Ukrainians trapped in the port city of Mariupol.
“Putin is a terrorist, and he needs to be ended, so we need everybody from around the world to stop what they are doing and come here now,” he told AFP at the time.
Re-surfaced footage from 2022 shows Donald Trump's assassination suspect talking to Newsweek Romania about the Ukraine war.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 16, 2024
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has been arrested in connection with the apparent attempt on Mr Trump's life.
Live updates: https://t.co/OtyNYyROtt pic.twitter.com/MT6aoKP8er
“I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE… Can I be the example We must win,” Routh said in an X post in March 2022, according to the New York Times, which also interviewed him.
The United States has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Trump, however, has not been such a stalwart backer of Ukraine during the war and has said if he had been president, Russian President Vladimir Putin would never have invaded.
In last week’s presidential debate, when asked if he wanted Ukraine to ‘win the war’, Trump answered only to say that the war needed to end.
In July, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said they had a good phone call in which Trump expressed support for Ukraine.
In general though, the Republican Party has scaled back its support for the war effort against the Russian invasion this year, specifically in the form of holding up aid packages.
When the House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, finally signed off on a major support package, it caused an open rift in the party.
With reporting from AFP and Press Association
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