THIS PROBABLY WON'T BE THE LAST ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE TRUMP

Trump golf course shooter named as Ryan Wesley Routh as suspect is arrested for assassination attempt in Florida

 

By Stephen M. Lepore and Shawn Cohen 

 

Daily Mail

Sep 15, 2024

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58 is in custody after the terrifying incident at Trump International Club almost exactly two months after a separate assassination attempt against Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania

 

Ryan Wesley Routh, the man named as the suspect in a possible assassination attempt near Donald Trump's Florida golf club, was calm and emotionless when he was arrested Sunday. 

Registered Democrat Routh, 58 is in custody after the terrifying incident at Trump International Club almost exactly two months after a separate assassination attempt against Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The suspect was found unarmed, as a backpack, GoPro camera and AK-47 style rifle that a gunman left behind when fleeing the scene have already been located.

Martin County Sherriff William D. Snyder said Routh 'was not displaying a lot of emotions' when police arrested him. 

Snyder added that the suspected shooter was 'relatively calm' and 'never asked' why he was being detained.

 

Routh, the man named as the suspect in a possible assassination attempt near Donald Trump's Florida golf club, was calm and emotionless when he was arrested Sunday

 

Routh, a registered Democrat, was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, per online North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records but could not provide details about the case.   

But a News & Record story from 2002 says a man with the same name was arrested after a three-hour standoff with police. 

According to his oft-updated X feed, Routh went from voting for Trump in 2016 to supporting Tulsi Gabbard in 2020 to demanding Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy form a unity team in 2024.

FEC filings show him donating to everyone from Gabbard to Andrew Yang to Elizabeth Warren to Tom Steyer in the 2020 Democrat primary.

During the George Floyd protests, he was preaching anti-police rhetoric but also used both 'BlackLivesMatter' and 'AllLivesMatter' as a hashtag.  

He wrote a tweet to Trump in June 2020 saying: 'While you were my choice in 2106 [sic], I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving; are you retarded; I will be glad when you gone'.

Wesley's son, Oran Routh, said his father is not a violent person and did not even believe him to own a gun. 

He told DailyMail.com his father hates Trump as 'every reasonable person does.

 

Trump was seen later Sunday with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson

Law enforcement personnel investigate the area around Trump International Golf Club after an apparent assassination attempt

 

'I don't like Trump either,' the son added.

But he said his dad is not a violent person and couldn't believe his father would target the president. 

'He's my dad and all he's had is couple traffic tickets, as far as I know,' the son said. 'That's crazy. I know my dad and love my dad, but that's nothing like him.'

The former president was rushed to safety on Sunday after multiple shots were fired in his vicinity while he was playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach. 

Routh said his father moved to Hawaii a few years back and was living with his longtime girlfriend. He said he didn't know his father was even in Florida.

'He said he was at the beach, but I thought that meant the outer banks in Hawaii,' he said. 'I didn't ask him for more information because we've had a falling out. We've grown apart.'

He wouldn't explain the nature of their 'falling out,' but still spoke highly of his father.

'He's not a violent person,' he said. 'He's a hard worker and a great dad. He's a great dude, a nice guy and has worked his whole f**king life.'

 

Trump supporters gather around Mar-A-Lago, after Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump returned from Trump International Golf Club, which was the site of a shooting

Officials said U.S. Secret Service agents spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of the bushes two holes ahead of where Trump was golfing on Sunday, prompting the agents to fire at the suspect

 

Asked whether his father owned a gun, he replied, 'Not that I know of.

'I've never known him to own a gun or known him to do anything bats*** like this,' the son added.

He said his father works as a general contractor, building small homes in Hawaii, and previously owned a roofing company.

Routh professed his support for Biden and Harris prior to Biden leaving the race in 2024, saying 'democracy is on the ballot and we cannot lose'. 

The car Routh was found in will be taken into FBI custody for further investigation, according to authorities. 

'I have a clear understanding from investigators that we actually do have the suspect that they're looking for in Palm Beach County,' Snyder said. 

Officials said U.S. Secret Service agents spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of the bushes two holes ahead of where Trump was golfing on Sunday, prompting the agents to fire at the suspect.

The individual ran into his vehicle from the trees, but was spotted by a witness who snapped a picture of his vehicle – a black Nissan – which included the license plate.

Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters at a press conference hours after the incident that the witness was able to share the plate and later identify the suspect as the person he saw fleeing the scene. 

Bradshaw said that the Secret Service had a 'limited' ability to protect Trump at the golf course.

'The golf course is surrounded by shrubbery, so when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they're pretty much out of sight, all right, and at this level that he is at right now, he's not the sitting president,' Bradshaw said.

Trump confirmed in a statement about an hour after the shots were reported that he is 'safe and well' and didn't want rumors to 'start spiraling out of control.'

The suspect was able to get within 400-500 yards of Trump. 

The 2024 Republican nominee's bulked up Secret Service advance team, however, spotted the shooter in the tree lines just two holes from where Trump was golfing. 

Special Agent Rafael Barros explained at the press conference on Sunday that Secret Service moves with Trump and is usually surveying one or two holes ahead of him when he goes for a round of golf. 

Asked if the security has changed around Trump since the first attempt on his life earlier this summer, Barros said: 'Yes, the threat was high.'

'We have increased the amount of assets that we've supported,' he continued. 'We are living in dangerous times.'

Real estate investor and New York City landlord Steve Witkoff was Trump's golfing buddy on Sunday, sources told DailyMail.com.

The FBI released a statement two hours after the incident claiming the attack 'appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.' 

The armed suspect was posted up outside the club around the 5th and 6th hole, which is confirmed to be a more 'vulnerable' area of the course because it is closest to the road. 

Sheriff Bradshaw detailed that the suspected assassin was wielding an 'AK-47 style weapon with a scope', which was recovered at the scene.

So was a backpack and GoPro camera, which Sheriff Bradshaw revealed in images of where the suspect was set-up in the bushes along the fencing of Trump's golf club.

 

An image shared by law enforcement reveals that backpack, bag, GoPro camera and AK-47 rifle with scope that a suspected would-be assassin had staged outside of Donald Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach on Sunday

When not campaigning, Trump is often found golfing at his West Palm Beach club. Pictured: Donald Trump flashes a thumbs-up as he golfs at his club in West Palm Beach on May 4, 2023

 

The area where the suspect was first spotted by his security detail was two holes ahead of where Trump was golfing at the time of gunshots, causing the individual to flee.

Undergrowth is cut back in this area every summer and is one of the parts of the course closest to the road.

The incident comes as Trump's security detail has been ramped up in the two months after the former president was shot in the ear during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. 

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) is on the House Task Force on the assassination attempt and said Sunday that the latest proves the attack in Butler was not an 'isolated incident.'

'As I've said before, the July 13th assassination attempt was not an isolated incident that we can take our time investigating as domestic and foreign threats are ongoing,' Waltz wrote on X.

He added: 'As a member of the Assassination Task Force, I expect the Secret Service to brief us this week.'

Trump's golf club is just five miles from his residence at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach and is where the former president is often spotted golfing when he is not on the campaign trail. 

The Palm Beach Sheriff's Department held a press conference Sunday afternoon to provide updates on the shooting and revealed images of the suspect's backpack, GoPro camera and AK-47 rifle left at the scene. 

'Nothing will slow me down,' Trump wrote in a statement. 'I will NEVER SURRENDER!'

 

Palm Beach Sheriff's Department vehicles posted up outside Trump International Golf Club on Sunday after gunshots were reported in the vicinity of where the former president was golfing

The entrance of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach Sunday

 

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are aware of the shooting and 'relieved' he is not harmed.

'The President and Vice President have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former President Trump was golfing,' according to the White House. 

'They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team.'

Harris, who just met Trump for the first time in person at their debate on Tuesday, responded to the shooting with a statement sharing the platitude: 'Violence has no place in America.'

'I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe,' she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

 

Wesley's son, Oran Routh, reached by DailyMail.com said his father, pictured, is not a violent person and was not aware of him owning a gun

Now-deleted Facebook profile of Ryan Routh, who allegedly tried to shoot Donald Trump at one of his Florida golf courses

 

United States Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a post on X: 'The Secret Service, in conjunction with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, is investigating a protective incident involving former President Donald Trump that occurred shortly before 2 p.m.'

'The former president is safe,' he assured, adding that the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office will follow up with more details about the incident.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he spoke with Trump moments after news broke.

'He is one of the strongest people I've ever known,' the senator wrote on X. 'He's in good spirits and he is more resolved than ever to save our country.'

It is still unclear how many people were involved in Sunday's shooting and whether they were targeting the former president. It is also still not known if the suspect ever fired his gun or if the gunshots came from the agents who took aim at the alleged threat. 

But just the report of shots near Trump raises eyebrows as multiple investigations are ongoing into the shooting in Pennsylvania earlier this summer that left two dead, including the shooter, and two critically injured. 

 

A bullet struck Donald Trump's right ear during an assassination attempt on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania

Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot dead by Secret Service agents after he was able to climb onto a roof with an AR-15 just 400 feet from where Trump was speaking and take multiple shots that killed one rally goer, critically injured two others and struck the former president 

 

Trump walked away from the assassination attempt with just a bloody ear that could have been a fatal shot had it been a few millimeters different and struck his head.

But would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot dead by Secret Service before he was able to get in another shot at the former president.

Initial canvassing led to authorities discovering his car near the rally site in Butler with explosives and his parent's home with even more bombs.

Congressional and other local and federal investigations are ongoing to discover what led to the failures that allowed a shooter to get just a few hundred feet away from Trump with an AR-15 rifle.