The FBI said the former president Donald Trump was the target of “what appears to be an attempted murder ” bee his golf club in West Palm BeachFlorida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after the Republican presidential candidate survived a new attempt on his life.
Trump was shot during an attempted murder during a July rally in Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear.
U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire on Sunday after spotting a person with a firearm at Trump’s West Palm Beach, Florida, golf club while he was playing golf. No injuries were reported. Officials said the person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended by local police.
He was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
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The Associated Press filmed Ryan Wesley Routh at a rally on Independence Square in Kiev in April 2022, two months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
A sign he held read: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our children.” He wore a blue vest with the American flag on the back, along with a scarf and a T-shirt in the colors of his national flag, as he took part in a small rally.
Other participants held posters drawing attention to Mariupol, which was under siege at the time and is now occupied by Russia. That same day, Routh also paid tribute to foreign citizens killed during the war at a makeshift memorial that read “Foreigners Killed by Putin.”
According to Oleksandr Shahuri, a representative of the Foreign Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command, Ryan Wesley Routh has never served in the Ukrainian army and has never cooperated with the military in any way.
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, vehemently denied any connection to Routh. The International Legion of Ukraine was founded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly after the outbreak of the war. It is made up of foreign citizens who “want to join the resistance against the Russian occupiers and fight for global security,” according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
Zelenskyy released a statement about X regarding the apparent assassination attempt: “I am happy to hear that Donald Trump is safe and unharmed. My best wishes to him and his family. It is good that the suspect in the attempted assassination was captured quickly. This is our principle: the rule of law comes first and political violence has no place anywhere in the world. We sincerely hope that everyone remains safe.”
Trump campaign officials are thanking the Secret Service for the former president’s safety following an alleged assassination attempt in Florida.
In an email sent to staff Sunday night, senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote: “Today, for the second time in two months, an evil monster attempted to take President Trump’s life.”
“Fortunately, no one was injured on the golf course. President Trump and all those accompanying him are safe thanks to the great work of the United States Secret Service,” they wrote.
They added that the safety of campaign workers is “always our top priority” and asked those who received the email to “remain vigilant” and “vigilant and maintain a constant level of situational awareness.”
Leaders of a bipartisan congressional task force investigating the attempted assassination of Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in July said they were closely monitoring the situation in Florida and have requested a Secret Service briefing.
“We are grateful that the former president was not injured, but we remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all its forms,” said Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. “The Task Force will share updates as we learn more.”
It was not immediately clear whether the incident would have any impact on Trump’s campaign planning.
On Monday night, he was scheduled to speak live from Florida about cryptocurrency on the social media site X for the launch of his sons’ crypto platform. Trump planned a town hall in Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday with his former press secretary, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, followed by a rally Wednesday on New York’s Long Island.
Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a fundraiser in Utah. His campaign had not announced any public plans for Trump on Sunday. He often spends the morning golfing before lunching at the club, one of three he owns in the state.
The man who authorities say pointed a rifle with a scope at former President Donald Trump’s golf club and was arrested is Ryan Wesley Routh, three agents told The Associated Press.
The officials identified the suspect to the AP but spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Secret Service agents fired at the suspect, who was arrested after he fled the scene of what the FBI calls an attempted assassination of the Republican presidential candidate. Authorities are working to determine a motive.
— By Associated Press reporters Colleen Long, Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Michael R. Sisak