Ryan W Routh is seen during a rally demanding China's leader's assistance to organise an extraction process for Ukrainian service members from Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol, in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 17, 2022. File picture: Reuters, Valentyn Ogirenko
By Gram Slattery and Sarah N Lynch
WASHINGTON - A man suspected of hiding for nearly 12 hours in an apparent attempt to assassinate Donald Trump at his Florida golf course was charged with two gun-related crimes on Monday, a day after authorities say he was spotted in the bushes with a rifle as the former US president played nearby.
The suspect never had the Republican presidential candidate for the November 5 election in his line of sight and did not fire any shots. But the incident raised questions about how an armed man was able to get so close to Trump, just two months after another gunman grazed his ear with a bullet during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump's visit to his golf course in West Palm Beach was not on his public schedule, acting US Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told reporters on Monday afternoon, and it was not clear whether the suspect knew Trump would be there.
The Secret Service opened fire after an agent sweeping the course saw a rifle barrel poking out of the bushes a few hundred yards away from the former president, who was on the fairway of the fifth hole.
"All of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air. I guess probably four or five," Trump said during an event on X Spaces. "Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me. ... We got into the carts and we moved along pretty, pretty good. I was with an agent, and the agent did a fantastic job."
While praising the Secret Service agents, he added: "We do need more people on my detail."
The gunman fled in a sports utility vehicle, according to court papers on Monday. Officers found a loaded assault-style rifle with a scope, a digital camera and a plastic bag of food left behind.
A suspect, identified on Monday as Ryan Routh, 58, was arrested about 40 minutes later driving north on Interstate 95. The licence plate on his vehicle had been reported stolen from another car.
Records show a phone associated with Routh was located at the golf course starting at 1.59am (0559 GMT) on Sunday morning, 11-1/2 hours before the incident.
The suspect was on the "public side" of a fence along the golf course's boundary, Rowe said.
Routh was the subject of a 2019 tip to the FBI alleging that he was a convicted felon who illegally possessed a firearm, Jeffrey Veltri, the agent in charge of the FBI's Miami field office, told reporters.
The complainant was unable to verify the information when the FBI investigated the tip, Veltri said.
GUN CHARGES
Routh made a brief appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach on Monday, where he was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. More charges could follow.
The defendant invoked his right to an attorney when investigators sought to question him, Rowe said.
In 2002, Routh pleaded guilty in North Carolina to possession of an unregistered fully automatic gun, defined in state law as a weapon of mass destruction, according to the county district attorney's office, and was sentenced to probation. He was also convicted of possessing stolen goods in 2010.
Trump's campaign schedule will remain unchanged, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
Trump blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, for the apparent assassination attempt. He claimed the suspected gunman was acting on Democrats' "highly inflammatory language," though authorities have not yet offered evidence of any motive.
"Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country - both from the inside and out," he said, according to Fox.
Democrats including Biden have repeatedly called Trump a danger to democracy, citing among other things his refusal to acknowledge his 2020 election defeat, which inspired the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol. Trump himself repeatedly uses incendiary rhetoric and false statements about his political opponents and, recently, Haitian immigrants.
Both Biden and Harris decried the incident, and Biden also spoke with Trump on Monday.
"President Biden just spoke with former President Trump, and conveyed his relief that he is safe. The two shared a cordial conversation and former President Trump expressed his thanks for the call," the White House said in a statement.
Trump, in a statement, called it a "very nice call."
SECRET SERVICE UNDER PRESSURE
The Secret Service, which protects US presidents, presidential candidates and other high-level dignitaries, has been under intense scrutiny since the earlier attempt on Trump's life.
That led to the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle. The service bolstered Trump's security detail following the July 13 attack, in which the gunman was shot dead by responding agents.
The agency "needs more help," including possibly more personnel, Biden told reporters on Monday, adding: "Thank God the president's OK."
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, who convened a bipartisan task force to investigate the first assassination attempt, told Fox News that Congress would also examine the latest incident, saying, "We need accountability."
Rowe, who took over after Cheatle's resignation in July, told Congress on July 30 he was "ashamed" of security lapses in the earlier attack.
Routh is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and travelled there after Russia's 2022 invasion, seeking to recruit foreign fighters. Ukrainian officials distanced themselves from Routh on Monday, and The International Legion, where many foreign fighters in Ukraine serve, said it had no links with Routh.
Harris has promised unwavering support for Ukraine if elected.
Trump has expressed scepticism about the amount of aid the US has provided Ukraine and has vowed to end the war immediately if elected. He told Reuters last year that Ukraine might have to cede some territory to gain peace.
- REUTERS