Donald Trump was the target of what the FBI described as “an apparent assassination attempt” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, Sept. 15.
This incident occurred nine weeks after another attempt on the Republican presidential nominee’s life. The former president stated that he was unharmed, and authorities have detained a suspect.
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“We have somebody in custody right now that is a potential suspect,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told a news conference.
US media have identified Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, as the man suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
Routh, who was interviewed by AFP in Kyiv in 2022 during his visit to support Ukraine’s war effort, was arrested following a dramatic incident near Trump’s Florida golf course.
According to reports, Secret Service agents opened fire on an armed suspect carrying an AK-47-style rifle near the boundary of the golf course while Trump was golfing on Sunday, Sept. 15.
The suspect fled from the scene, bolting out of nearby shrubbery and escaping in a black car. Authorities later tracked him down and took him into custody.
Because Trump is merely a presidential candidate, the Secret Service could not establish as wide a perimeter around the property as they normally would do if Trump were actually the president.
CNN and CBS have reported that Routh is a self-employed affordable housing builder from Hawaii with a criminal record spanning several decades.
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He is known for regularly posting about politics and current events, occasionally criticizing Trump. Among the causes Routh has publicly supported is Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
Routh, 58, reportedly visited Ukraine in 2022 and has repeatedly posted about Ukraine on social media. “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 posted to X in March 2022.
In another post, he wrote, “We need to burn the Kremlin to the ground.”
Once the news hit the wires, social media was abuzz with claims of a “fake” assassination attempt.
“So, Secret Service opened fire on someone carrying a firearm in an open carry state who happened to be near Trump’s golf course and that now qualifies as an ‘assassination attempt’ ... sorry, not buying it,” an X (formerly Twitter) user wrote.
Trump survived an earlier assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July, with a bullet slightly grazing his right earlobe, just days before the Republican National Convention.
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