UNITED STATES NEWS

Trump was on the links taking a breather from the campaign. Then the Secret Service saw a rifle

Sep 15, 2024, 10:42 PM

Police crime scene vehicles are seen at Trump International Golf Club after police closed off the a...

Police crime scene vehicles are seen at Trump International Golf Club after police closed off the area following the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Terry Renna)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sunday was to be a day of relative rest for Donald Trump, a rare breather this deep into a presidential campaign. Aside from sounding off on social media, golf was on the agenda.

Then the Secret Service spotted the muzzle of a rifle sticking out of a fence in bushes at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club, and everything changed.

For the second time in just over two months, someone apparently tried to shoot Trump and came dangerously close to the former president in that effort — within 500 yards Sunday, law enforcement officials said. This time, the gunfire came from the Secret Service, before the suspect could get any shots off at his target.

The episode raised sharp questions about how to keep the former president safe — not only while he is campaigning across the country, but while he spends time at his own clubs and properties.

Trump has had stepped-up security since the assassination attempt on him in July, when he was wounded in the ear during an attack that laid bare a series of Secret Service failures. When he has been at Trump Tower in New York, parked dump trucks have formed a wall outside the building. And at outdoor rallies, he now speaks from behind bulletproof glass.

But unlike typical VIPs, who live in private residences with tall fences, Trump, while in Florida, resides at a club open to dues-paying members, and often spends his down time at his golf courses. And this a toxic era in the nation’s politics.

“The threat level is high,” Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami field office, told reporters Sunday. “We live in danger times.”

Sunday in the political world opened with Trump assailing a pop star on social media who had endorsed Kamala Harris — “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” — complaining about the post office and hitting the links. Running mate JD Vance riffed on TV about that thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory concerning immigrants and pets, refusing to disown it. Democrats were apoplectic.

All that was standard fare for the most tumultuous presidential campaign in anyone’s memory. But shortly before 2 p.m., the subject abruptly changed and this election was thrust ever deeper into unprecedented territory.

Trump and golf partner Steve Witkoff were on the fifth hole of the course and about to putt when they heard the “pop, pop, pop, pop,” said Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close friend of the former president who spoke with him several times afterward as well as with Witkoff.

Moments later, Hannity said, a “fast cart” with steel reinforcement and other protection whisked Trump away.

After the Secret Service noticed the rifle and then the suspect, an agent fired on him but apparently missed.

Secret Service agents immediately used their bodies to shield Trump and moved him to the golf course’s clubhouse, where he remained until he went back to Mar-a-Lago about 15 minutes away, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and described it on condition of anonymity.

About an hour later, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the agency and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office were investigating an unspecified “protective incident involving former President Donald Trump,” adding he was safe.

The meaning was highly unclear. It could have been an unrelated shooting or disturbance near Trump, for all the country knew at first. “There were about 20 or more cop cars flying from nearby streets,” said Max Egusquiza, of Palm Beach, describing the emergency response he witnessed.

The Trump campaign issued a statement saying “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity.” Again, no word whether he was the intended target.

But it soon became known that the Secret Service had fired shots. And about an hour after that happened, Donald J. Trump Jr. posted on X that an AK-style rifle was discovered in the bushes, “per local law enforcement.”

All of that was finally followed by an FBI statement saying it is investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”

The suspect quickly vanished but law enforcement had managed to identify his vehicle.

Martin County Sheriff William D. 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.

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 description of the driver.

“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 added: “He never asked, ‘What is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights — a lot going on. He never questioned it.”

With that, 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 suspect had left behind an AK-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks hanging on a fence with ceramic tile inside and a GoPro camera, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.

The sheriff said the suspect was 400 to 500 yards away from Trump hidden in shrubbery, while the former president played golf on a nearby hole.

“It was certainly an interesting day! ” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night. He effusively thanked law enforcement for keeping him “SAFE.”

___

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Colleen Long, Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.

Comments

Comment guidelines: No name-calling, personal attacks, profanity, or insults. Please keep the conversation civil and help us moderate comments by reporting abuse.
comments powered by Disqus

United States News

Associated Press

California’s insurer for people without private coverage needs $1 billion more for LA fires claims

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s plan that provides insurance to homeowners who can’t get private coverage needs $1 billion more to pay out claims related to the Los Angeles wildfires, the state Insurance Department said Tuesday. The FAIR Plan is an insurance pool that all the major private insurers pay into, and the plan then […]

14 minutes ago

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks to employees at the Department of Homeland Security,...

Associated Press

Republicans once railed against armed IRS agents. Now they want them for immigration enforcement

WASHINGTON (AP) — For years, Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have railed against the IRS and its cadre of armed agents. Now the administration has big plans for them: It wants the agents to assist with immigration enforcement. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sent a request to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to borrow IRS workers […]

24 minutes ago

FILE - Former New York Governor Kathy Hochul aide Linda Sun and her husband, Christopher Hu, not in...

Associated Press

A former aide to New York governors and her husband face new charges in foreign agent of China case

NEW YORK (AP) — A former aide to two New York governors and her husband are facing additional charges in a case accusing her of acting as an agent of the Chinese government. Linda Sun and Chris Hu pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court, according to prosecutors. […]

28 minutes ago

Associated Press

Kilauea is shooting lava again. It is the Hawaii volcano’s latest activity in an on-and-off eruption

HONOLULU (AP) — Kilauea volcano began shooting lava into the air once again Tuesday on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has been erupting on and off for nearly two months since it burst to life on Dec. 23. The eruption has been taking place at the the […]

36 minutes ago

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order relating to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in...

Associated Press

Trump’s halt of US law banning business bribes abroad raises specter of a ‘Wild West’ of dealmaking

NEW YORK (AP) — To its fans, it’s an undeniable force for good in a corrupt world, a groundbreaking anti-bribery statute that has brought powerful businessmen to heel for secretly paying off foreign government officials to win contracts abroad. To detractors, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unfairly hobbles American companies while foreign rivals not so […]

47 minutes ago

FILE - A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after a school shooting, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winde...

Associated Press

In rare case, Georgia father jailed after his son was accused of a school shooting is granted bond

ATLANTA (AP) — In a rare case of a parent being charged after a school shooting, a judge on Tuesday granted a $500,000 bond for the father of a 14-year-old boy accused of a deadly attack at a north Georgia high school. Colin Gray has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts, including two counts of […]

48 minutes ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Fiesta Bowl Foundation

Join us for the 52nd annual Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade

The 52nd annual Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade presented by Lerner & Rowe returns on Saturday, December 28, at 10 a.m.

...

The UPS Store

How The UPS Store is giving back to the community

PHOENIX -- As 2024 nears a close, The UPS Store is looking to give back to the Arizona community with the holiday season approaching.

...

Schwartz Laser Eye Center

Don’t miss the action with this game-changing procedure

PHOENIX -- The clear lens exchange procedure has emerged as a popular alternative to LASIK eye surgery.

Trump was on the links taking a breather from the campaign. Then the Secret Service saw a rifle