The man accused in the apparent assassination attempt targeting former U.S. president Donald Trump on Sunday was near the golf course for 12 hours before he was caught, authorities say.
The cellphone belonging to Ryan W. Routh was “in the vicinity of the area” of the tree line next to the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., as of 1:59 a.m. ET on Sunday, according to a criminal complaint filed in court on Monday.
A Secret Service agent walking the golf course a few holes ahead of Trump at 1:31 p.m. — 12 hours and two minutes later — saw the tip of the rifle poking out of the shrubbery.
The agent fired their weapon and the would-be gunman fled — without firing a shot, according to the FBI — leaving behind a loaded semiautomatic weapon fitted with a scope.
U.S. Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe says ‘the security plan worked’ over the weekend when a suspected assassination attempt was thwarted at former U.S. president Donald Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The incident brought the Secret Service under another round of scrutiny just two months after another gunman fired at Trump during rally in Butler, Pa., nicking his ear.
Ronald Rowe, the agency’s acting director, said Monday that agents did not sweep the golf course in the hours before Trump teed off because the game was an “off the record” event not listed on his official schedule for the day.
“There was no posting up at the golf course because [Trump] wasn’t supposed to have gone there in the first place,” said Rowe.
Routh, 58, was arrested about 40 minutes later driving north on Interstate 95. He invoked his right to an attorney when investigators tried to interview him, the FBI said.
During an eight-minute hearing in federal court on Monday, prosecutors levied two charges against him: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Routh, shackled and wearing a blue jumpsuit, smiled as he spoke with his lawyer and reviewed documents ahead of the initial appearance.
Previous felony convictions
The U.S. attorney for Southern District of Florida confirmed Routh has two previous felony convictions in North Carolina.
He pleaded guilty in 2002 to possession of an unregistered fully automatic gun, defined in North Carolina law as a weapon of mass destruction, according to the county district attorney’s office, and was sentenced to probation. He was also convicted in 2010 of possessing stolen goods.
During a joint news conference on Monday, the FBI’s lead agent in Miami said Routh had also been the subject of a previous investigation in 2019 after someone submitted a tip that he was a felon in possession of a firearm. Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami field office, said agents interviewed the tipster and closed the case after they didn’t receive any more information.
Sheriff William Snyder, of Martin County, Fla., describes how his team stopped the suspect after an apparent assassination attempt against former U.S. President Donald Trump at a golf club.
Officials said Routh could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the first charge related to the apparent attempt on Trump’s life, and a possible five-year sentence on the second charge. A bond hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 23, and a probable cause hearing or arraignment has been set for Sept. 30, depending on whether the government secures an indictment on the charges.
Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and prosecutors seek an indictment.
“We view this [incident] as extremely serious and are determined to provide answers as to what led up to the events that took place,” Veltri said.
Motive unclear
During the hearing, Routh gave routine information to court officials as to his work status and income. Speaking in a soft voice, he said that he was working and making a little more than $4,000 Cdn a month, but has zero savings.
Routh said that he has no real estate or assets, aside from two trucks worth about $1,300, both located in Hawaii. Routh, who in the past had reported ties to North Carolina, also said that he has a 25-year-old son, whom he sometimes supports.
Routh’s motives are unclear, as are his travels to the golf club and how he was able to avoid detection.
Evelyn Aschenbrenner, a civilian member of the International Legion of Ukraine, says they first encountered Routh while helping co-ordinate the recruitment of foreign soldiers to help the Ukrainian military after Russia’s invasion in 2022. At first, they said the interaction was par for the course — he came across as a man who was eager to contribute to the war effort.
Over the next several encounters, though, Aschenbrenner said, the tone shifted. They said Routh created an unauthorized recruitment website and shared their phone number with potential soldiers around the world, becoming hostile when they explained the limitations on getting personnel into Ukraine.
“It went from, I thought he might be trying to help a little to this very unhinged…” they recalled, trailing off in an interview with CBC News on Monday.
“He wouldn’t listen. He would argue. He would insist he was the only one who cared about Ukraine… it was like talking to a wall.”
Evelyn Aschenbrenner said Ryan W. Routh initially seemed like someone who wanted to help with the war effort in Ukraine in 2022, but evolved into someone who became increasingly unhinged.
Eventually, Aschenbrenner posted online warnings to other members of the Ukrainian military community cautioning that Routh might be misrepresenting himself as a recruiter.
Aschenbrenner, an American citizen, found out Routh was a suspect in the apparent assassination on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I was in shock, I was confused, but not completely surprised. Ryan — again, I’m not a psychologist, I’m not going to try and diagnose him — but something has been up with him,” they said.
Routh has never served in the Ukrainian army nor collaborated with the military in any capacity, according to Oleksandr Shahuri, a representative officer of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, Routh has periodically contacted the international legion with what Shahuri described as “nonsensical ideas.”
“His plans and ideas can best be described as delusional.”
Shahuri, speaking to The Associated Press, firmly denied any connection to Routh. The legion was created shortly after the outbreak of the war by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It consists of foreign citizens “wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupants and fight for global security,” according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.
The FBI said Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday. This comes just nine weeks after the former U.S. president survived a previous attempt on his life.
House demanding more protection for Trump
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will be demanding more Secret Service protection for Trump, saying he needs more attention than any other protectee.
In the Senate, Florida Republican Rick Scott said he would propose legislation that would increase security for Trump, and possibly other former presidents.
U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters on Monday, said he did not yet have a full report of the Sunday incident at Trump’s Florida golf course and that he was thankful the former president was OK. But Biden said he believed the Secret Service needs more help.
“In America, we resolve our differences peacefully at the ballot box, not at the end of a gun,” the president said.
In a post on X on Sunday, Vice-President Kamala Harris said “violence has no place in America.”
Trump was shot at a Pennsylvania rally in July, suffering an ear injury as a firefighter who attended the event was killed by gunfire. The gunman, Thomas Crooks, was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.
LISTEN | What history teaches about assassination attempts:
Published at Mon, 16 Sep 2024 16:15:38 +0000
Trump was target of apparent assassination attempt at his Florida golf club, FBI says
The FBI said Sunday it was investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination” of Donald Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla., just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another such attempt. Trump said he was safe and well.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said U.S. Secret Service agents fired at a man pointing a high-powered rifle with a scope into the club as Trump was on the course.
Bradshaw said the gunman also had two backpacks hanging on a fence and a GoPro camera, and that he was about 400 yards to 500 yards away (365 to 457 metres) from Trump and hiding in shrubbery while the former president played golf on a nearby hole.
The person dropped the weapon and fled in an SUV, and was later taken into custody in a neighbouring county.
Incident follows July shooting at Pennsylvania rally
Police arrested Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Kaaawa, Hawaii, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials identified the suspect to AP but spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
The incident was the latest jarring moment in a campaign year marked by unprecedented upheaval. It occurred roughly two months after Trump was shot during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear. Only a week later, President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.
In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumours start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”
The golf course was partially shut down for Trump as he played, and agents were a few holes ahead of him when they noticed the person with the firearm, Bradshaw said. There are several areas around the perimeter of the property where golfers are visible from the fence line.
Secret Service agents and officers in golf carts and on ATVs generally secure the area several holes ahead and behind Trump when he golfs. Agents also usually bring an armoured vehicle onto the course to quickly shelter Trump should a threat arise.
Representatives from the U.S. Secret Service and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office described the moments before members of former U.S. president Donald Trump’s security detail intervened in a suspected assassination attempt at Trump’s golf club on Sunday.
Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser. His campaign had not advised Trump’s plans for Sunday. He often spends the morning playing golf, before having lunch at the club, one of three he owns in the state.
He has had a stepped-up security footprint since the assassination attempt in July. When he has been at Trump Tower in New York, a lineup of dump trucks have parked in a wall outside the building. And at outdoor rallies, he now speaks from behind an enclosure of bulletproof glass.
Trump was returned Sunday to his private Mar-a-Lago club, where he resides in neighbouring Palm Beach, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Suspect apprehended in minutes
Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder said the suspect was apprehended within minutes of the FBI, Secret Service and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office putting out a “very urgent BOLO” — or “be on the lookout” alert” detailing the specific vehicle sought, license plate number and occupant description.
Snyder said his deputies “immediately flooded” northbound I-95, deploying to every exit between the Palm Beach County line to the south and St. Lucie County line to the north.
“One of my road patrol units saw the vehicle, matched the tag and we set up on the vehicle,” Snyder said, “We pinched in on the car, got it safely stopped and got the driver in custody.”
Snyder told WPTV that the suspect “was not armed when we took him out of the car.”
The man had a calm, flat demeanour and showed little emotion when he was stopped by police, Snyder said, saying the suspect did not question why he was being pulled over.
“He never asked, ‘what is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it,” Snyder said.
Harris, Biden glad violence was averted
Routh, the suspect, has been interviewed by U.S. media outlets including the New York Times and Semafar in the past three years, on the subject of Americans volunteering for the war in Ukraine. It appears that Routh had once travelled to Kyiv in early 2022.
Routh also told Semafor in March 2023 that he had been trying to recruit U.S.-trained Afghan fighters to fight for Ukraine against Russia but that the Defence Ministry in Kyiv had not agreed to issue visas to them.
Social media accounts on Facebook and X appearing to belong to Routh were suspended late Sunday. In posts seen before then, the account holder appears to track political news while sometimes tagging politicians like Trump, Tulsi Gabbard and Nikki Haley in comments.
The White House said President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, had both been briefed and would be kept updated on the investigation. The White House added they were “relieved” to know Trump is safe.
Harris, in a statement said she was “glad” Trump was safe, adding that “violence has no place in America.”
Biden echoed that thought in his own statement and added that he had directed his team to ensure the Secret Service “has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.”
Published at Sun, 15 Sep 2024 19:17:01 +0000