Donald Trump was targeted on Sunday in what appears to be a second assassination attempt.
In a press conference on Monday, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Marklenzy Lapointe, announced that the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, had been “charged with firearms offenses related to an incident that occurred [Sunday] at Trump International golf course” in West Palm Beach, FL.
Routh has been charged as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
According to U.S. Attorney Marklenzy, a secret service agent saw a rifle poking out from the treeline at the Trump International Golf Course, and after the agent shot at him, Routh fled. Routh was later arrested by a Martin County Sheriff’s officer. In the area from which Routh
allegedly fled, a camera, backpack, loaded SKS style rifle, and a black plastic bag containing food were found.
This is not Routh’s first run-in with the law as he had also been previously convicted of two felonies, one in North Carolina in 2002 and another in March 2010, according to Marklenzy.
“We are investigating this matter as an apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump,” said FBI agent Jeffery Veltri at the press conference.
Veltri also stated that analysis of Routh’s cell phone showed he had been around the golf course over 12 hours before the incident.
Although a motive has not yet been uncovered, the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, had a very outspoken social media presence. Routh was vocal about his political beliefs, among them being his fierce and avid support for Ukraine.
Routh even made a post on X (formerly Twitter) in which he requested that President Biden- “Put all our military personnel on paid leave so they can go and fight for Ukraine,” going on to state in the same post that he would “go and fight.”
In another now deleted post, Routh even directly mentioned Trump. Despite Trump being his choice in 2016, he reflected on that by saying, “I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate[s], but we all were [disappointed].” He even used a derogatory term towards the former President and ended the post with, “I will be glad when [you’re] gone.”
Presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her dismay at the attempt on Trump’s life, posting on Sunday, “I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”
In the wake of the incident, Donald Trump took to X space to speak on a live audio interview.
“There’s a lot of rhetoric going on,” former President Trump said in reference to what he believed motivated the attempted assassins, “They both seem to be radical lefts.”
It is important to note that the investigations into both attempted assassins are ongoing. NPR reported in August that the FBI found that the gunman in Pennsylvania saw the rally as a “target of opportunity.” The investigation into the motives of Routh’s attempt remains infancy.
When approached about how this was the second assassination attempt that he survived in the last two months, Trump responded with, “There’s something going on… Perhaps it’s God wanting me to go on and become President of this country.”
This is the second attempt at Trump’s life in the last two months, and this second attempt may shift the dynamic in the rapidly approaching 2024 presidential race.