The FBI said former President Donald Trump was the target of “what appears to be an attempted assassination ” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life.
Trump was shot during an assassination attempt at a July rally in Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear.
U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire on Sunday after seeing a person with a firearm near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club in Florida while he was golfing. No injuries were reported. Officials say the person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended by local law enforcement.
He was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
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The Associated Press filmed Ryan Wesley Routh in April 2022 at a demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square two months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
A placard he was holding said: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.” He wore a blue vest with the American flag on the back, along with a scarf and T-shirt in the colors of his national flag, while participating 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 near a makeshift memorial sign reading “Foreigners killed by Putin.”
Ryan Wesley Routh has never served in the Ukrainian army nor collaborated with the military in any capacity, according to Oleksandr Shahuri, a representative officer of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command.
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, firmly denied any connection to Routh. The International Legion of Ukraine was created shortly after the outbreak of the war by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It consists of foreign citizens “wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupants and fight for global security,” according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.
Zelenskyy released a statement on X regarding the apparent assassination attempt: “I am glad to hear that Donald Trump is safe and unharmed. My best wishes to him and his family. It’s good that the suspect in the assassination attempt was apprehended quickly. This is our principle: the rule of law is paramount and political violence has no place anywhere in the world. We sincerely hope that everyone remains safe.”
Trump campaign leaders are crediting the Secret Service with keeping the former president safe following an apparent assassination attempt in Florida.
In an email sent to staff Sunday evening, senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote, “Today, for the second time in two months, an evil monster attempted to take the life of President Trump.”
“Thankfully, no one was injured at the Golf Course. President Trump and everyone accompanying him are safe thanks to the great work of the United States Secret Service,” they wrote.
They added that campaign staffers’ safety is “always our top priority” and asked those receiving the email to “remain vigilant” and “observant and maintain a constant level of situational awareness.”
The leaders of a bipartisan task force in Congress that has been investigating the assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in July said it is monitoring the Florida situation and has requested a briefing by the Secret Service.
“We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms,” said Rep. 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 affect Trump’s campaign schedule.
On Monday night, he was set to speak from Florida about cryptocurrency live on the social media site X for the launch of his sons’ crypto platform. Trump planned a town hall Tuesday in Flint, Michigan, 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 Utah fundraiser. His campaign had not advised about any public plans for Trump on Sunday. He often spends the morning playing golf, before having lunch at the club, one of three he owns in the state.
The man who authorities say pointed a rifle with a scope into former President Donald Trump’s golf club and was arrested is Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
The officials identified the suspect to the AP but spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Secret Service agents shot at the suspect, who was taken into custody after fleeing the scene of what the FBI is calling an apparent attempted assassination of the Republican presidential nominee. Authorities are working to determine a motive.
— By Associated Press reporters Colleen Long, Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Michael R. Sisak