Former US President Donald Trump suffered a new assassination attempt on Sunday after an individual, who was detained by the Secret Service and did not fire a shot, approached the golf course where the Republican candidate was playing, armed with an AK-47 rifle with a telescopic sight.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has 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 pm and the first thing that was learned, 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 to get out of hand, I want you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND OK!” Trump later said in a statement. “Nothing will stop me. I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!” he added.
One man arrested in Florida after attempted assassination of Trump
At a press conference held around 5:00 p.m., 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 next to the fence of the golf course belonging to Trump, where he was playing, about 300-500 meters away.
The Secret Service shot him and he ran from some bushes where he was hiding to the vehicle he tried to escape in, a black pickup truck 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 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.”
The White House speaks out on the new attack on Trump
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.”
“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 America,” she said.
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,” she said.
The outcome of today’s assassination attempt was 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.
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 incident led to numerous resignations over 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.
With information from EFE
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