Just two months after a man tried to kill former President Donald Trump, the Secret Service said it had stopped what it appeared to be. A second assassination attempt Against the former president. Unlike the July 13 shooting at a Trump rally, in which a member of the crowd was killed and Trump was wounded, no one was hurt this time. But the incident has raised questions about the Secret Service’s ability to protect the former president and raised new concerns about the risk of ongoing political violence this election cycle.
On Sunday, law enforcement officials say, the former president was playing golf at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, when Secret Service agents Found a gun barrel in the bushes In the scope of the course. Agents surrounded the former president and opened fire, prompting one to flee the scene.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said at a news conference that the suspected gunman was 300-500 yards away from the former president. (While close, the suspect was not as close to Trump as July’s shooter, who were within about 150 yards of the president when he opened fire.) Police said they found two backpacks and an AK-47 style rifle with a scope with a camera in the bushes.
It remains unclear whether the suspected gunman fired any shots before the Secret Service responded. Former President – According to Fox News host Sean Hannity, with whom he spoke After the attempted attack on Sunday, the president – was safe and in good spirits.
A witness saw someone fleeing the neighborhood in a black Nissan shortly after the incident, according to Bradshaw, and law enforcement officials announced they had arrested a 58-year-old suspect. Ryan Wesley RouthSoon after on Interstate 95. Officials said Routh was unarmed and remained calm as he was arrested.
Who is Ryan Wesley Routh?
dislike The man who tried to kill Trump in JulyRouth has a colorful public history. Routh previously lived in North Carolina, But Hawaii is gone In recent years and said he is building Affordable housing He was interviewed by there The New York Times in 2023 for an article About Americans working as freelance fighters for the war in Ukrainedespite having little or no competence to do so. Ruth, who had no prior military experience, spoke to The Times Reporter about a plan to recruit soldiers fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan and transport them to Ukraine to join the war effort.
“When I got off the phone with Mr. Routh a few minutes later it became clear that he was in over his head,” said reporter, Thomas Gibbons-Neff. wrote. “He talked of buying off corrupt officials, forging passports and doing whatever it took to get his Afghan cadres into Ukraine, but he had no real way to accomplish his goals.” In 2023, Routh Also talked to Semaphore about his efforts.
Routh also appears to have a criminal history. In 2002, He was arrested in Greensboro, North Carolina after a three-hour standoff with police where he barricaded himself inside a roofing business. He was charged with possession of an illegal, fully automatic machine gun. According to News and Observer, A newspaper based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Routh There were other convictionsincluding a hit and run and possession of stolen goods.
Routh’s son spoke positively about his father In an interview with the Guardian this weekend and he expressed surprise at the idea of resorting to violence. Little is known about his other possible family relationships at this time.
What are Routh’s political leanings?
Like another of Trump’s assassins, Thomas Matthew Crooks, Routh’s political positions don’t fit neatly into a single political ideology — though he does seem to see Trump as a threat to American democracy. Routh was registered as an “unaffiliated” voter in North Carolina and participated in this year’s Democratic primary. He gave money to democratic causes.
But on an X account that has been deactivated, a user named Routh Said he supported Donald Trump in 2016 But was disappointed in his presidency. In another post from the same account, Authors Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy tried to encourageBoth Republicans, together to run for president and vice president.
Same account post that In this election “democracy is on the ballot”, among others, Sometimes unrelated posts about a variety of subjects, including Ukraine and China, suggests that the author’s politics are not easily characterized by a single worldview.
As with the July assassination attempt, online partisans from both parties have already drawn conclusions about Routh’s political leanings and influence, along with some Democrats. downplaying Routh’s support for liberal causes and Republicans Link to Routh’s comments about democracy being on the ballot Here’s what Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats have to say about the stakes for this election.
What about guns?
He was carrying an AK-47 Routh, like the AR-15 used by Crooks, One of the weapons of choice for mass shooters In recent years both have been assault-style weapons—a phrase that has many possible meanings but generally refers to guns that are meant for rapid-fire use with large magazines. An AK-47 style weapon Used in 2019 shoot in El Paso, TexasWhere 23 people were killed and 22 were injured.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who said in a statement that she was “deeply disturbed” by reports of a second attempted attack on Trump, called Banning assault weapons. United States of America There was a federal assault weapons ban in place from 1994-2004, and research suggests that assault weapons are prohibited to reduce meaningfully Mass shooting death.
D People are divided On the question of whether to ban assault weapons, however, and Republicans in Congress blocked A bill to do so when it comes up for a vote in 2023. Even after being targeted by a similar weapon in July, former President Trump has not called for an assault weapons ban.
How did another assassination attempt happen so quickly?
Legislators asking to know More on how another assassin was able to get so close to the former president for the second time in a matter of months. At the news conference, law enforcement explained that Trump’s Secret Service detail does not have the resources to cover the entire perimeter of the golf course, but lawmakers are sure to ask for more details in the coming days.
“The facts about the second incident certainly deserve very close attention and investigation,” said Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. to say The New York Times.
While a second assassination attempt in such a short period of time seems shocking, it is in some ways not surprising. Current and former law enforcement officials I spoke with in recent weeks emphasized how difficult the job of protecting elected officials from the public has become. After the expiration of the federal assault weapons ban, and more than a decade after the marketing of assault-style rifles, This is more Weapons are promoted in the United States than before. The number of deadly long-range guns in the hands of the public makes maintaining a zone of safety around politicians quite difficult.
The Secret Service also noted Sunday that as a former president, he doesn’t have access to the same level of security as a current president, and some Former officials are now offering advice That may need to change.
Guns aren’t the only problem, though. Garen Wintmute, an expert on political violence and gun violence, told me this summer that his research shows that a small but alarming segment of the American population is open to the idea that politically motivated violence is justified.
At the time, Wintemute said, the conditions that led to more violence were a closely contested race, with momentum swinging toward Democrats, and a race that had recently experienced political violence.
“I think it will happen again. Whether that would involve an elected official as a target, I can’t say,” Wintmute told Vox in July. “But we have opened the door to political violence this election season, and there are still leaders who are using rhetoric that enables violence. And we will all pay for it, I suspect.”
