AP (“Trump was the subject of an apparent assassination attempt at his Florida golf club, the FBI says“):
Donald Trump was the target of what the FBI said “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. The former president said he was safe and well, and authorities held a man in custody.
U.S. Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.
An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. The man was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county.
[…]
The man who was detained had a calm, flat demeanor and showed little emotion when he was stopped, according Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.
“He never asked, ‘What is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it,” Snyder said.
In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!” He wrote: “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”
He returned to Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach where he lives, according to a person familiar with Trump’s movements who was not authorized to discuss them publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
NYT (“Trump Safe as F.B.I. Investigates Apparent ‘Attempted Assassination’“):
The F.B.I. said it was investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination” of former President Donald J. Trump after the Secret Service fired on an armed man at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday, just over two months after he was wounded during an attempt on his life.
Mr. Trump was on the course, a few hundred yards away, when Secret Service personnel spotted a person concealed in the bushes and opened fire, law enforcement officials said at a briefing. The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle and was taken into custody during a traffic stop, and a rifle with a scope was recovered from the bushes, along with a camera and two backpacks. It was not yet clear whether the suspect had fired any shots, according to the Secret Service.
A U.S. law enforcement official identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. Mr. Routh was interviewed by The New York Times in 2023 for an article about Americans volunteering to aid the war effort in Ukraine. Mr. Routh, who had no military experience, said he had traveled there after Russia’s invasion in 2022 to recruit Afghan soldiers for the fight. He told The Times he once visited Washington to meet with politicians to strengthen support for Ukraine. “I’m just a U.S. citizen that’s helping out,” he said.
WaPo (“Trump safe after potential assassination attempt at golf course“):
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was unharmed Sunday in what authorities are investigating as another potential assassination attempt, after a man pointed a rifle into a Florida golf course where the former president was playing.
Police arrested Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old man most recently living in Hawaii who spent recent years trying to join the war in Ukraine, according to online posts and law enforcement officials. Routh has a criminal history including barricading himself inside a building with a machine gun in 2002, according to public records and news reports. On Sunday the FBI searched his car as officers looked for clues to a possible motive.
Sunday’s incident occurred while Trump was golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Fla. Following the usual security procedure, a Secret Service agent moved one or two holes ahead of the former president, 300 to 500 yards away, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
Around 1:30 p.m., between the fifth and seventh holes, the agent noticed a rifle muzzle poking through the tree-lined chain-link fence surrounding the golf course, Bradshaw said. The agent opened fire and Trump’s detail rushed him to a holding room. The gunman fled in a black Nissan, leaving behind an AK-47-style rifle, two bags and a camera mounted to the fence to record, according to Bradshaw.
“With a rifle and a scope like that, that’s not a long distance,” Bradshaw said.
I was alive but not old enough to be politically conscious when political assassination was routine in our country. I only vaguely remember the attempts on President Ford. The attempt on President Reagan is much more vivid in my mind but it was just some nut trying to impress an actress.
That there have now been two attempts on Trump is disconcerting but perhaps not surprising. The tenor of our politics is against dark and existential—with Trump himself a major contributor. (In fairness, we don’t know this would-be shooter’s motivation. For all we know, he’s a huge Taylor Swift fan.) President Biden and Vice President Harris are saying the right things and condemning the violence. But there’s a strong likelihood that there will be more to come, if not before the election then after—regardless of the outcome.
