John Jefferson
A suspected gunman is now in custody after Secret Service agents foiled what appears to be a second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in the space of just two months.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was identified by federal officials as the suspect who was allegedly armed with a powerful AK-47 assault rifle and aimed it through the bushes at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, when the former president was playing a round of golf on Sunday.
He was around 300 to 500 yards away from Trump at the time. West Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a press conference that, at around 1: 30 p.m., Secret Service agents had spotted the butt of the gun through the fence and fired shots toward Routh.
It is not clear if the accused gunman opened fire.
Routh has a criminal record dating back to at least 2002, when he was convicted in Guilford County, North Carolina, on one felony count of possession of a weapon of mass destruction, according to a review of state court records. The Greensboro News & Record reported at the time that a man by the same name and the same age as Routh had fled from police during a traffic stop and holed up inside a local business, United Roofing, triggering a three-hour standoff. The weapon of mass destruction charge was brought against Routh over a fully-automatic machine gun he had, accordimg to the News & record.
Routh was the owner of United Roofing, according to public records, which list a company email in his name. He wrote on his LinkedIn profile that he relocated to Hawaii in 2018, a move indicated by his address history displayed in a public records search.
In 2010, Routh was convicted of possession of stolen goods, and sentenced to probation. Further details of the charges are unclear.
On Sunday, Routh allegedly fled the scene, with a witness taking a photo and noting the license plate of his black Nissan SUV, authorities said.
Officers from the Martin County Sheriff’s office in Florida, based near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, tracked down the vehicle on the I-95 and captured the suspect. He has been taken into custody and is being held at the local county jail.
The motive for the alleged attack also res unclear but the FBI is treating it as an “attempted assassination,” the bureau said in a statement.
When he fled, Routh left several items behind at the golf club fence: an AK-47 with a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tile inside and a GoPro video camera which he allegedly aimed to use to film the incident, authorities said.
The incident comes just two months after Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
In that deadly attack, gunman Thomas Crooks opened fire on the former president with an AR-style rifle from a rooftop of a nearby building.
A bullet struck Trump in the ear and one rallygoer was killed before Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service snipers.
Since that shooting, the Secret Service has faced pointed questions about the extent and competency of security details protecting the former president and other political figures.
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