Former US President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an alleged assassination attempt on Sunday in Florida, according to the FBI. A 58-year-old suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was arrested after Secret Service agents opened fire near the boundary of Trump’s golf course. A high-powered AK-47-style rifle with a scope and a GoPro camera was recovered at the scene.
When Secret Service agents opened fire, Routh reportedly bolted out of the shrubbery he was hiding in and escaped in a black car. Authorities were able to track down the car after witnesses helped police identify it.
“We have somebody in custody right now that is a potential suspect,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told a press conference, as quoted by news agency AFP.
According to the New York Times, Routh is a former construction worker from North Carolina Greensboro. Routh had no formal military background but expressed strong desires to participate in armed conflict in the past, particularly in Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion. In one post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Routh declared his willingness to “fight and die” in Ukraine. He also advocated for civilians to change the course of global conflicts.
“I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE,” he wrote.
According to the New York Times, on the messaging application Signal, Routh wrote, “Civilians must change this war and prevent future wars” as part of his profile bio.
“Each one of us must do our part daily in the smallest steps help support human rights, freedom and democracy; we each must help the Chinese,” his bio on WhatsApp reads.
Routh’s activities didn’t stop at online declarations. In a 2023 interview with The New York Times, he claimed to have travelled to Ukraine to support the war effort and recruit Afghan soldiers.
This wasn’t Routh’s first brush with violence. In 2002, he was arrested after barricading himself inside a building with a fully automatic weapon in Greensboro. The charges were serious, though the outcome of the case remains unclear.
“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” his campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“Fear not! I am safe and well, and no one was hurt. Thank God!” Trump himself said in a website fundraising message, as quoted by news agency AFP
The latest shooting incident comes weeks after Trump was the Target of another assassination attempt while addressing a rally in Pennsylvania. The would-be assassin fired a bullet from his sniper from a distance, which grazed the former US President’s ear. The suspect was then shot dead by authorities.
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