The officers identified Routh’s black Nissan on the I-19 and took him into custody less than 50 minutes after Routh fled the scene at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach.
In a video posted on X, Trump shakes the hands of the deputies gathered in a room at Mar-a-Lago, and praises their work.
“I’m still here…Thank you very much,” Trump said.
"Vice President Harris called former President Trump this afternoon to speak with him directly to express that she is grateful he is safe,” a White House official said.
“It was a cordial and brief conversation."
Soon after Sunday’s incident, Harris issued a statement condemning the apparent second assassination attempt on the former president.
"The president and the vice president have always forcefully, forcefully condemned violence in all forms, including political violence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing.
“And we certainly have never encouraged any violence in any way.”
Jean-Pierre referred to the president's address to the nation from the Oval Office in July, following the first assassination attempt against the former president during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
She said the president urged Americans to “bring the temperature down.”
“You heard that directly from this president, and it is not the time to tear Americans apart,” she said.
Jean-Pierre also stated that the president has no intention of softening his rhetoric regarding Trump.
"The president has always been very clear-eyed about this, about the threat the former president represents to our democracy," she said.
Trump will head to Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday for his first campaign event since the latest incident, which occurred in West Palm Beach on Sunday. The Michigan town hall will take place at 7 p.m. ET at the Dort Financial Center and will be hosted by Trump’s former White House press secretary, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Vice President Kamala Harris is also pressing on with her campaign. The Democratic nominee is slated to do an interview in Philadelphia with the National Association of Black Journalists. The interview will be livestreamed at 2:30 p.m. ET via the group’s social media channels.
Latest Developments:
- The FBI has confirmed that it is investigating the incident at Trump International Golf Club as an apparent assassination attempt.
- The suspect has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii. He is facing two federal gun charges over the incident. The FBI is still investigating whether he acted alone.
- President Joe Biden called Trump on Monday and expressed his relief that the former president was unharmed, and the pair discussed Secret Service protection. Trump said it was “a very nice call.”
- The two attempts on Trump’s life have prompted calls for tighter security for the former president and other political leaders.
- The Secret Service is in discussions with Congress about increasing the agency’s funding for counter sniper training and additional personnel.
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is launching a state probe into the incident to possibly bring attempted murder charges, a state offense.
“He was in good spirits. He did remark that on that sixth hole, I think, he was in pretty good shape for potential birdie,” DeSantis said. “And if you know the former president, that matters a lot to him when you're talking about this.”
Trump was golfing at Trump International Golf Club when a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a rifle through a fence surrounding the golf club. The agent fired at the suspect, Ryan Routh, who fled the scene but was captured shortly thereafter.
DeSantis noted that Moody has jurisdiction of the case given that the suspect, Ryan Routh, committed offenses across multiple counties.
“Also the state of Florida has jurisdiction over the most serious, straightforward offense, which is attempted murder,” he said.
“I've directed state agencies to move expeditiously and provide full transparency to the public.”
DeSantis expressed doubt about the federal government’s capability to take on the case, in which the incident occurred at Trump International Golf Club, while the GOP presidential nominee was golfing.
“In my judgment, it's not in the best interest of our state or our nation as the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump are leading this investigation—especially when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law, but not federal law,” he said.
DeSantis said the federal government does not have the jurisdiction to bring an attempted murder charge and therefore the State of Florida should move on the case so that the suspect can get life in prison.
Moody said Florida doesn't want a “turf war” with federal agencies.
“I got to see what he has to live his daily life like,” he said. “Two assassination attempts in the last two months. He’s been vilified. He ought to be commended for his four years of public service as a president.”
Witkoff praised the former president as being courageous and for asking about his friends first during the event.
He also followed Trump in praising the Secret Service for their actions.
“They were incredible,” Witkoff said. “They put their lives on the line for him.”
As Trump was golfing at Trump International Golf Club on Sunday, Routh had allegedly taken up a position along the club’s perimeter fence using a scoped SKS-style rifle. Around 1:30 p.m. ET, a Secret Service agent patrolling the area noticed the barrel of the rifle, and immediately opened fire, authorities said.
At that point, Routh allegedly fled the scene, but not before photos of his vehicle were captured by a civilian in the area.
“The civilian did a phenomenal job. A woman. … How many people would have the brainpower to follow him and take pictures of the back of his truck?” Trump said.
He noted that with the license plate number provided by the civilian, police were then able to track and locate the vehicle. According to the criminal complaint, police arrested Routh on the Interstate 95 within 48 minutes of him fleeing the golf course.
“So I was playing golf with some of my friends, it was on a Sunday morning, very peaceful, very beautiful weather. Everything was beautiful, nice place to be, and all of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five, and it sounded like bullets,” Trump said during a conversation on X Spaces about cryptocurrency.
“The Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me,” Trump said.
“I would have loved to have sunk that last putt, but we decided, ‘Let's get out of here,’” Trump said.
After the incident, Trump and his golf partner, Steve Witkoff, were taken by Secret Service agents to the more defensible clubhouse.
Trump said that he was impressed with the actions of the Secret Service agent who first noticed the gunman, whose barrel was barely visible through the perimeter fence and bushes surrounding Trump International Golf Club.
“Secret Service did a great job … the sheriff’s office, law enforcement, everyone did a great job,” Trump said.
“It was quite something,” Trump said from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “But it worked out well and Secret Service did an excellent job, and they have the man behind bars and hopefully he’s going to be there for a long time.”
Trump called the suspected would-be assassin a “very, very dangerous person.”
Two failed attempts to assassinate former President Donald Trump in just more than two months have exposed apparent holes in the shield that is supposed to protect him. Now, leaders from both major political parties are calling for tighter security as Trump continues his presidential campaign.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who heads a bipartisan task force probing the July 13 Pennsylvania assassination attempt that wounded Trump, said the Sept. 15 attempt in Florida underscores his concerns.
“This should be a wake-up call to America about just how dangerous ... things are right now” for the nation’s top political leaders, Kelly told The Epoch Times in a Sept. 16 interview.
He said those concerns should be particularly acute for Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.
“Two times now, there’s been an attempt to assassinate him,” the Pennsylvania congressman said, begging the question: “What is it that is taking place right now that there’s not enough security ahead of time?”
Democrats, including President Joe Biden, joined Kelly and other Republicans in decrying violence against the former president, who is in the thick of a presidential race against Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told reporters that “the increased assets directed by the president, by President Biden, were in place” at the golf course during Trump’s visit on Sept. 15.
The Secret Service “needs more help,” and Congress should respond to that need, Biden told reporters on Sept. 16.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), said that the Senate is prepared to provide more funding “if the Secret Service is in need of more resources.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Fox News on Sept. 15 that he did not think it was “a funding issue” but rather “a manpower allocation” issue.
Authorities have said that, under Secret Service guidelines, Trump does not receive as much protection as a sitting president does.
Such statements trouble Kelly.
“Have we become that casual about protective services?” he asked.
Kelly noted that other former presidents are still “walking around out there” and that heightened protection is warranted, particularly following an assassination attempt.
Johnson said: “President Trump needs the most coverage of anyone. He’s the most attacked. He’s the most threatened, even probably more than when he was in the Oval Office. So we are demanding in the House that he has every asset available, and we will make more available if necessary. I don’t think it’s a funding issue. I think it’s a manpower allocation.”
Kelly said he and Johnson have spoken about expanding the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump to probe both of the incidents. Kelly pointed out that the two attempts occurred under very different circumstances.
The July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was well-publicized, giving the suspected gunman “all kinds of lead time” to stake out the grounds and make other plans for the shooting, Kelly noted.
In contrast, only a select few people should have known about the former president’s Sept. 15 outing at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, he said.
“How did that guy know to be on that golf course that day?” he asked.
An FBI agent’s affidavit says cellphone records show that the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, had chosen his spot behind some bushes lining the golf course nearly 12 hours before Trump approached the area on the afternoon of Sept. 15.
Kelly said that suggests the gunman “somehow ... got information from somebody” before Trump’s arrival. The Epoch Times asked the Trump campaign how far in advance the former president’s golf outing was planned but received no response before publication.
“On a Sunday afternoon, when the president decides to go golfing at his own golf course, and somehow this shooter turns up at that same spot, in the same time with the same objective as the shooter at Butler had—and that was to kill the [former] president of the United States,” Kelly said.
A Secret Service agent spotted a gun barrel protruding through the perimeter fence and fired at the spot where the apparent would-be assassin was lying in wait; the man fled without firing a shot. Police stopped Routh’s vehicle a short time later and arrested him. He faces two federal firearms charges.
Trump and many others have commended the Secret Service for their quick action, which included shielding Trump after an agent spotted the rifle.
The Secret Service was commended for rapidly shielding Trump in Butler, too, although the agency faced criticism for failing to secure the rooftop where the suspected gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had positioned himself when he fired at Trump. Multiple rally attendees had alerted police about Crooks before the former president appeared on stage at the Butler Farm Show, prompting questions and concerns over why the candidate was allowed to take the stage.
Kelly reiterated that his task force is committed to finding answers about the attacks on Trump; Johnson said congressional hearings about the Butler assassination attempt could be convened next week.
“We take for granted too much the fact that we are safe and secure, and we’re always going to be that way because we’re America. I think we’ve shown that we’re very vulnerable in a lot of different areas, and we'd better wake up about what’s going on in our country, in our nation, in a world that’s very much upside-down right now,” Kelly said.
“I’m telling people: ‘Please do not take for granted that our freedoms and our liberties are always going to be there, that we’re going to be able to defend them.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) released three “new findings from whistleblowers” regarding the July assassination attempt.
In a Sept. 16 report, Hawley said that the lead agent for Trump’s Butler visit and rally “failed a key examination during their federal law enforcement training to become a Secret Service agent.”
In addition, Secret Service agents who were supposed to team up with state and local officers on reports of suspicious persons “were absent from the Butler rally.” Finally, Hawley represented that the hospital where Trump was treated for the injury to his right ear was “poorly secured.”
In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, a spokesman for the agency said: “The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the Senator’s report and will continue to work with Congressional oversight committees in both the House and the Senate.”
“President Biden just spoke with former President Trump and conveyed his relief that he is safe,” a White House official said.
“The two shared a cordial conversation, and former President Trump expressed his thanks for the call.”
Trump, in a statement issued by his campaign, said, “We had a very nice call. It was about Secret Service protection.” His campaign did not provide additional details.
“The subject had an active online presence, and we are going through what he posted and any searches he conducted online,” said FBI Miami Field Office special agent in charge Jeffrey Veltri.
Veltri also referenced a New York Times article that mentions Routh, who at the time was attempting to recruit and transport NATO-trained Afghanis in Pakistan and Iran into Ukraine.
“The FBI has sent multiple requests to companies for returns on the subject's phone and social media accounts. We received several returns and are waiting on additional responses from other companies as well,” Veltri said.
“Our investigative team is completing analysis of the returns and action leads as needed, and we anticipate continuing until the FBI knows the full totality of the subject’s social media presence.”
“We view this as extremely serious, and are determined to provide answers as to what went up to the events which took place,” Veltri said at a press conference.
The FBI is “determined to provide answers as to what led up to the events which took place,” he said.
Biden appeared to respond: “I called him, but he wasn’t available. I’m going to try again later.”
The White House later clarified the president’s response to reporters, stating, "Yes. They did not connect, but he called."
On his way to Delaware earlier in the day, the president told reporters that the Secret Service needs more personnel.
“Congress should respond to their needs,” he said.
Addressing the 2024 National HBCU Week Conference in Delaware, Biden noted that the Secret Service is conducting an evaluation to determine whether any adjustments are necessary to better protect the former president.
“In America, we resolve our differences peacefully at the ballot box and not at the end of a gun,” he told the crowd at the conference.
“America has suffered too many times the tragedy of an assassin’s bullet. It solves nothing and just tears the country apart. We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen.”
Rowe said there is a “heavy uniformed presence” and “additional assets of the Secret Service” at the Florida property.
“When you look at that footprint … there's not much difference there,” he said, making a comparison to 2017.
“Our investigation will determine that,” said FBI Miami Field Office special agent in charge Jeffrey Veltri.
So far, it appears that Routh wasn't working with others, Veltri indicated, but emphasized that the investigation is ongoing.
“We do not have information that he's been acting with anyone else at present,” Veltri said on Monday.
Earlier the same day, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said authorities are “laser-focused” on the issue.
Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent along the perimeter fence of the Trump International Golf Club at around 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. He fled after receiving fire from an agent, and was later arrested without incident as he drove northbound on I-95.
Because Routh is not from the area—he’s known to live in Hawaii and records indicate he may have previously lived in North Carolina—questions linger about what prompted him to travel to the area Sunday, and if he was a lone actor or is part of a larger conspiracy.
Rowe said the agency is requesting funding from Congress to train counter snipers.
Rowe also said that the agency needs the funding to hire more personnel.
“We need to get out of a reactive model and get to a readiness model,” he said.
President Joe Biden said earlier on Monday that the Secret Service “needs more help,” adding Congress should respond to the agency’s needs.
“They may decide whether they need more personnel or not,” Biden said.
The acting director said Trump’s golfing trip was an “off-the-record movement” not on his official schedule, and that “the president wasn't even really supposed to go there.”
“And so we put together a security plan, and that security plan worked,” Rowe said.
Rowe noted that because of the "layered" approach taken by the Secret Service, the suspect never got a clear line of sight to Trump before a Secret Service agent shot at him and he fled.
“What we did yesterday was exercise our emergency plan based on the number of tactical assets and the highest level of protection that we are providing,” the acting director said.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe commended Secret Service agents and local enforcement for preventing Ryan Wesley Routh from firing his weapon on Sunday.
“The [Secret Service] agent's hyper vigilance and the detailed swift action was textbook,” Rowe said.
The first assassination attempt was at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The suspect also did not fire his weapon, said Rowe.
A Secret Service agent who was patrolling the golf course perimeter ahead of Trump spotted the barrel of Routh’s gun and fired at him. Routh escaped but was captured later while driving on the highway.
Veltri said an individual tipped the FBI that Routh, a convicted felon, was illegally in possession of a firearm.
However, when the FBI followed up on the complaint, Veltri said, the complainant “did not verify” that he or she had furnished the initial information.
At that point, Veltri said, the information was passed to local law enforcement in Hawaii, where Routh was living at the time.
The FBI offices in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Charlotte, North Carolina, have been interviewing “several family members, friends and former colleagues” of Routh, said Veltri. He said the bureau has been collecting evidence and taking DNA samples from interviewees.
The FBI “will also process the subject's vehicle for evidence,” said Veltri.
“It's a time to reflect on the ways that our political process has been injected by reprehensible violence,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Monday.
“In America, our democracy flows from the ballot box, not from the barrel of a gun, period.”
McConnell went on to say that “the American people deserve answers, they deserve assurance that a former president, who tens of millions of Americans have nominated once again, will receive every appropriate measure of security, and they ought to receive them without delay.”
Routh, the suspect in an apparent assassination attempt, was apprehended on the northern stretch of I-95 running through Martin County after he fled from Trump International Golf Club, where he had set up two bags, a digital camera, and an SKS-style rifle with an attached scope.
“I just thank God we found that car and we're able to give … former President Trump peace of mind,” Snyder said.
“He's already invited the men and women that were involved in the stop to go to Mar-a-Lago and be thanked for what they did,” Snyder said.
Snyder said that “every available unit” in the county, including roughly 30 deputies, detectives, and SWAT operators, were dispatched to apprehend Routh.
“Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Secret Service and all law enforcement have the resources they need to do their jobs,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday.
“So as we continue the appropriations process, if the Secret Service is in need of more resources, we are prepared to provide it for them, possibly in the upcoming funding agreement," he said.
Schumer condemned the apparent assassination attempt.
"There is no place in America for political violence of any kind. I'm glad the former president is safe, and I applaud the Secret Service and all first responders for acting quickly before anyone got hurt,” he said.
“As for the perpetrator, he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, we almost do our part to ensure an incident like this does not happen again.”
The suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, was taken into custody within hours of the apparent assassination attempt. Officials believe that Routh didn’t let off any rounds at Trump before being identified by a Secret Service agent, taking fire, and fleeing.
Snyder said that questions linger about why Routh, who is not from the area, was there in the first place.
North Carolina criminal records show an individual of the same name living in Greensboro, North Carolina between at least 2001 and 2010. A since-deleted Facebook profile also showed an individual of the same name and appearance living in Kaaawa, Hawaii.
The Epoch Times has not been able to independently verify if these records refer to the same Ryan Routh.
“I think what we’re finding out [is that] he’s not from this area. Which of course raises the bigger question: How does a guy from not here get all the way to Trump International, realize that the … former president of the United States is golfing, and is able to get a rifle in that vicinity?” Snyder said.
“I think that’s the question the FBI, the Secret Service are laser-focused on today. Is this guy part of a conspiracy? Is he a lone gunman?” Snyder said, adding that the case would take on “a more ominous tone” if it’s discovered that Routh wasn’t acting alone.
The suspect, who has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, is alleged to have taken a position along the perimeter fence of Trump International Golf Club, where he set up two bags and an SKS-style rifle with an attached scope.
According to officials, Routh didn’t let off any rounds before he was noticed and shot at by a Secret Service agent around 1:30 p.m. ET. At that point, Routh fled the scene, but not before a witness photographed his vehicle and license plate.
According to Snyder, law enforcement quickly received the photos and was tipped off that Routh was likely heading north on I-95.
At that point “every available unit went out,” Snyder said.
Martin County sheriff’s deputies and detectives took up positions at every mile marker along the interstate from one county line to the other. In total, Snyder estimated that about 30 units were either on scene or en route, including some SWAT officers who had volunteered to come in to assist.
A deputy quickly identified the vehicle matching the description provided by the witness, but Snyder said officers waited to engage until back-up arrived.
“So we followed the vehicle until my big pickup trucks got on location, and with those big front end bumpers, they maneuvered that vehicle to a stop so there was no chase,” Snyder said.
At that point, Snyder said, deputies arrested Routh, and held him in custody until federal officials arrived. Martin County deputies did not take a statement from Routh.
The Secret Service was on scene first, Snyder said, followed quickly by the FBI.
Bomb-sniffing dogs from neighboring St. Lucie County were also brought on scene as a safety precaution, though no explosives were found in Routh’s vehicle.
The witness who had taken the photographs was taken to the scene via helicopter, where they were able to positively identify the vehicle as the one that they had seen leaving the golf course earlier.
Snyder, who said he arrived on scene a few minutes after the arrest, described Routh’s “facial affect” as being “very bland.”
“He was not emoting any emotions at all. He made no statements,” Snyder said.
After federal officials arrived at the jail, Routh was turned over to the FBI, Snyder said.
Two federal gun charges have been filed against the man suspected of plotting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, faces the felony charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, according to unsealed court documents.
The first charge carries a maximum penalty of $250,000 in fines, 15 years in prison, and three years of supervised release. The second charge carries a possible five-year sentence, $250,000 in fines, and three years of supervised release.
The criminal complaint, filed in the Southern District of Florida, was unsealed on Sept. 16 after Routh’s arraignment in a West Palm Beach courtroom.
According to the complaint, a U.S. Secret Service agent walking the perimeter of Trump International spotted the barrel of an SKS-style rifle poking out along the tree line.
Ryan Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump, is arrested by the Martin County Sheriff's Office in Martin County, Florida, on Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office)
After the agent fired in the direction of the rifle, a witness spotted a male fleeing the area on foot and then in a Nissan SUV bearing the license plate of a stolen Ford truck, according to the complaint.
At about 2:14 p.m., officers from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office pulled Routh over as he was traveling northbound on I-95, and the earlier witness identified him as the suspect seen leaving the golf club, the complaint states.
Body camera footage shows heavily armed officers in bulletproof vests taking Routh into custody.
Cellphone records that investigators obtained from T-Mobile placed Routh along the perimeter of Trump International for roughly 12 hours, from 1:51 a.m. to 1:31 p.m., when the incident occurred.
The complaint also details Routh’s prior conviction in December 2002 in Greensboro, North Carolina, for “possession of a weapon of mass death and destruction.” The charge, a Class F felony, is punishable by up to 59 months’ incarceration.
Law enforcement indexes also show a March 2010 conviction on multiple counts of possession of stolen goods, a Class H felony punishable by up to 39 months incarceration.
At his Sept. 16 arraignment, Routh told Magistrate Judge Ryon M. McCabe that he has a 25-year-old son, earns about $3,000 a month, and has no assets besides a truck in Hawaii worth roughly $1,000.
It could be the same white Ford truck that The Associated Press photographed outside Routh’s home in Kawa, Hawaii, which bears a Biden–Harris bumper sticker.
The house of Ryan Routh in Kawa, Hawaii, on Sept. 15, 2024. Routh is in police custody in connection with the alleged second attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Sept. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Audrey McAvoy/AP Photo)
Routh will be represented by a public defender. He is due back in court for his detention hearing on Sept. 23.
The FBI is leading the ongoing probe with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Secret Service.
Attorney General Merrick Garland told The Associated Press that the Justice Department will “bring every available resource to bear” as the investigation continues.
“We are grateful that the former President is safe,” Garland said.
New Details
At an afternoon press conference, the FBI and Secret Service revealed previously undisclosed details about the incident and the ongoing investigation.
Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge for the FBI’s Miami Field Office, confirmed that investigators are treating the event as an apparent attempted assassination.
“We view this as extremely serious and are determined to provide answers as to what went up to the events which took place,” Veltri said.
He noted that the FBI’s field offices in Honolulu and Charlotte, North Carolina, have begun interviewing Routh’s family members, friends, and former colleagues for more information. The FBI’s Evidence Response Team is also processing the SKS-style rifle recovered from the scene, its scope, two bags, Routh’s electronic devices, and “what appears to be ceramic tiles.”
The FBI also received a tip in 2019 that Routh, a convicted felon, was illegally in possession of a firearm, Veltri said. However, when the FBI followed up on the complaint, Veltri said, the complainant “did not verify” that he or she had provided the initial information.
Investigators are also examining Routh’s cellular data to determine his movements leading up to the incident.
As for the security that was in place during Trump’s golf outing, acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe advised that the agency employed counter snipers, counter surveillance, counter-assault teams, and drones to protect the former president.
Rowe said Trump was moving through the fifth fairway and an agent was conducting a sweep of the sixth green when the alleged gunman was spotted. The suspect did not fire any shots, and he did not have a direct line of sight to Trump.
“With reports of gunfire, the former president’s close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location,” Rowe added.
The acting director said Trump’s round of golf was an “off-the-record movement” not on his official schedule.
“And so we put together a security plan, and that security plan worked,” he added.
Routh’s Background
Records show that Routh has spent most of his life living in North Carolina, where he ran a roofing business before moving to Hawaii in 2018.
Routh’s LinkedIn profile lists him as the current owner of Camp Box Honolulu, a company that builds tiny houses and sheds for the less fortunate, since May 2018.
In his bio, he expresses that he is eager to join “any monumental worthy cause to bring about real change in our world,” and is willing to relocate to do so. And amid the war in Ukraine, he did just that, according to various media interviews.
In a June 2022 interview with Newsweek, he detailed his move to Ukraine to assist in the conflict and his efforts to recruit volunteers for the International Legion—efforts the Ukrainian military sought to distance itself from on Sept. 16.
Routh would contact the International Legion with “nonsensical ideas,” Oleksandr Shahuri, a representative officer of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command, told The Associated Press. But Routh had no connection to the group or the Ukrainian military in any form, Shahuri said.
In March 2023, Routh told The New York Times about his plans to move—in some cases illegally—his Afghan soldier recruits from Pakistan to Ukraine.
“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan since it’s such a corrupt country,” Routh told the outlet.
Routh’s now-suspended account on social media platform X contained numerous posts in support of Ukraine, NATO, and Taiwan.
On Aug. 10, 2023, he wrote of his plans to create a Taiwan Foreign Legion to recruit Afghan fighters to defend the nation against the Chinese Communist Party.
He also created a website for that purpose, where he solicited applications.
Voting records show that Routh registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012 and recently voted in the state’s Democratic presidential primary in March.
Posts on X indicate that Routh voted for Trump in 2016, but his opinion of the former president appeared to have soured.
Earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden in a post on X that read: “POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”
Campaign finance records also reveal that, using his Hawaii address, he has made 19 small political donations totaling $140 through ActBlue since 2019.
Trump, in an interview with Fox Digital on Sept. 16, suggested that his Democrat opponents’ claims that he is a “threat to democracy” were stoking political violence targeting him.
In a statement released just after midnight on Sept. 16, Vice President Kamala Harris said she was “deeply disturbed” by the apparent assassination attempt against her opponent in the presidential race.
“As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We must all do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,” she said, adding that she was thankful that Trump was safe.
President Joe Biden likewise said he was “relieved” Trump was unharmed.
“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety,” he wrote on X.
Jackson Richman, Jack Phillips, Joseph Lord, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
“We feel very confident that we will have the assets necessary to make sure that this is safe for everyone,” he said.
“This will be the safest place in the country on that day,” said Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.
“America has suffered too many times the tragedy of an assassin’s bullet,” Biden said during a Monday speech at an unrelated event. “It solves nothing. It just tears the country apart. We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen.”
“We are grateful that the former president is safe,” Garland said in an emailed statement.
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. The former carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, while the latter carries a penalty of up to 5 years. Routh made his first court appearance on Sept. 16 to hear the charges and did not enter a plea.
Routh was convicted in December 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, a felony.
In January 2003, he was convicted of several misdemeanor vehicular offenses including driving with a revoked license, carrying a concealed weapon, hit and run, and resisting an officer. In March 2010, he was convicted of possessing stolen goods, a felony. The following July, he was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of possessing stolen goods.
All of the convictions resulted in probation, aside from the 2002 conviction, which resulted in suspended sentences.
The complaint against Routh stemming from the incident at Trump International Golf Club only mentions the December 2002 and March 2010 incidents.
“I watched my very close friend @realDonaldTrump be his typical strong, courageous and stoic self, concerned about his friends first before thinking of himself,” Witkoff wrote on X. “That is the truest example of leadership.”
Witkoff thanked the Secret Service for preventing “a much more terrible result.”
“I know President Trump’s truth—which as I said at the RNC continues to march on. Now I have personally witnessed his courage under fire and that is a man who inspires me,” Witkoff said.
After the incident, Trump and Witkoff were rushed by the Secret Service to the more defensible clubhouse. According to Fox News host Sean Hannity, who spoke with Trump and Witkoff after the incident, Trump’s main concern in the clubhouse was ensuring that everyone who had been nearby was unharmed.
An officer can be seen repeatedly shouting at Routh, “Take two steps to your right.” He also told Routh to “walk straight back” and to “keep walking.”
Routh can be seen with his hands in the air then holding up his shirt, as police grab him and put his arms behind his back to arrest him.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, was identified as the suspect in an attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump at a golf course on Sunday in Palm Beach, Florida.
Routh was charged on Monday morning in federal court with two federal counts—possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
He told the court that he has a 25-year-old son, has no assets, besides trucks in Hawaii worth around $1,000, and makes about $3,000 per month.
He is being represented by a public defender and is due back in court on Sept. 23, according to reporters at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Reporters say Routh appeared in a blue jumpsuit and was shackled. No motive has been disclosed by federal, state, or local law enforcement officials.
Criticized Trump
On X in 2020, Routh expressed support for Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as well as former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii). In another post, he said that he voted for Trump in 2016, but his opinion of the former president appeared to have soured, based on his posts.
At one point in July, after the first assassination attempt targeting the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania, Routh wrote that he believed Trump would not go to the hospital to visit the survivors. He also urged President Joe Biden to visit them instead in the post, one of several he made about the July 13 shooting in Butler.
Earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden in a post on X: “POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”
In a June 2020 post on X directed at then-President Trump, Routh said that the president would win reelection if he issued an executive order for the Justice Department to prosecute alleged police misconduct in the wake of George Floyd’s death, which sparked widespread riots and protests across the United States.
In another June 2020 post, Routh wrote to Trump’s X account that while he voted for him in 2016, he “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. I will be glad when you gone,” he wrote.
Has Voting History, Criminal Record, and FBI Tip
Records show that Routh, 58, lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving in 2018 to Kaaawa, Hawaii, where he and his son operated a company building sheds, according to an archived version of the webpage for the business.
Routh registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, recently voting in person during the state’s Democratic Party primary in March, records show.
Federal campaign finance records show Routh made 19 small political donations totaling $140 since 2019 using his Hawaii address to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates and progressive causes.
Over the years, he has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement, including a 2002 conviction in which he was accused of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, court records from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction show.
A News & Record story from that time reported that a man with the same name was arrested after an hours-long standoff with police, saying that he was pulled over, put his hand on a gun, and barricaded himself in a local business. The roofing company was owned by him, according to reports at the time.
On Monday, the FBI special agent in charge, Jeffrey Veltri, told a press conference that Routh was the subject of a 2019 tip to the FBI, which was later closed. No details were provided about the tip, and Veltri said it was referred to local law enforcement.
“Following up on the tip, the alleged complainant was interviewed and … did not verify providing the initial information. The FBI passed that information to local law enforcement in Honolulu,” he said.
Had Social Media Presence, Was Avid Ukraine Supporter
Routh left behind an extensive social media history. Profiles associated with Routh on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn were removed by the social media sites hours after the incident on Sunday.
Routh, in social media posts and interviews with multiple news outlets, referenced the war in Ukraine, including his apparent efforts to recruit people to fight in the conflict.
All three accounts bearing Routh’s name suggest he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in the ongoing conflict.
He made comments about recruiting Afghan soldiers to fight in Ukraine as well as for those soldiers to be stationed in Taiwan and Haiti, according to an Epoch Times review of his social media account before it was taken down.
“Fight and die to stop aggression,” he wrote on X in February 2023 about Ukraine. “Everyone should be outraged and helping.”
In a video circulating online, Routh said, “This is about good versus evil.”
Video shot by The Associated Press showed Routh at a small demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square in April 2022, two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of the country. He held a placard that said: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.”
Routh wore a blue vest with the U.S. flag on the back.
A book that was authored by an individual with the same name—Ryan Routh—titled, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the end of Humanity,” as of Monday morning was still available on Amazon.
The book includes multiple references to recruiting Afghan soldiers to fight in Ukraine. One excerpt reads:
“As the Taliban is committing genocide and killing the majority of the Afghan population; we have 5900 Afghan soldiers ready to deploy to Ukraine and we have 10,000 of the Syrian free army (less 67 killed in the earthquake last week) that Ukraine and the US refuses to allow and coordinate them to go and fight in Ukraine.”
Gave Multiple Media Interviews
The New York Times said on Sunday that it had interviewed Routh in 2023 for an article about Americans who were volunteering to help the Ukraine war effort. In that article, he told the paper he'd traveled to Ukraine and spent several months there in 2022 and was trying to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine.
“A lot of the other conflicts are grey but this conflict is definitely black and white. This is about good versus evil,” Routh said in an interview posted by Newsweek Romania in June 2022. His comments suggested he was in Kyiv at the time.
He also had a website through which he sought to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to Kyiv to join the fight against the Russian invasion. Multiple photos that appear to have been taken in recent years showed him in various places in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Other photos showed him with his hair dyed yellow and blue in an apparent reference to Ukraine’s flag colors.
Routh spoke to CBS News reporters multiple times, putting their correspondents in contact with foreign fighters in Ukraine, according to the news outlet. It said that he often said he wanted to recruit soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
Encountered Secret Service
On Sunday, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told a news conference that a Secret Service agent on Trump’s security detail engaged with the suspect, who fled the scene, and that members of the agency opened fire at him.
An SKS-style rifle, a GoPro camera, and two backpacks were discovered near the golf course’s chain link fence, about 400 to 500 yards from Trump as he was golfing.
Bradshaw said a witness also saw a man jumping out of the bushes and fleeing in a black Nissan. The car was pulled over about 50 miles north of the golf course, the Martin County sheriff’s office said.
Arrested by Sheriff on I-95
Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder told reporters on Sunday that a section of Interstate 95 was shut down while officials took Routh into custody, describing police maneuvers used to stop him.
In describing Routh, the sheriff said that he appeared calm and asked no questions about why he was being detained during the arrest on I-95.
Routh was seen being arrested and being taken into custody on Sept. 15 in bodycamera footage released by the Martin County Sheriff’s office.
Ryan Routh was seen being taken into custody on Sept. 15, 2024, in bodycamera footage released Monday by the Martin County Sheriff's Office. (Martin County Sheriff's Office )
In the footage, sheriff’s deputies are heard saying, “Driver ... take two steps to your right,” before deputies grabbed him and placed handcuffs on his wrists. Routh, whose stomach was partially uncovered, did not say anything in the video released by the office.
Has a Son Who Spoke to the Media
Routh’s son, Oran Routh, told CNN on Sunday evening that he was “a loving and caring father, and honest hardworking man.”
“I don’t know what’s happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion, because from the little I’ve heard, it doesn’t sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violent,” he said.
The younger Routh also told the Daily Mail that his father doesn’t like Trump. He reiterated that his father isn’t a violent person.
“He’s my dad and all he’s had is a couple traffic tickets, as far as I know,” the son told the tabloid. “That’s crazy. I know my dad and love my dad, but that’s nothing like him.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Correction: The Epoch Times wrote the incorrect name for Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
In an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times on Sept. 16, Kelly said: “I think that we're probably going to merge the two events with the task force, one being a very public event, the other being a very private event.”
The first attempted assassination, which wounded the former president and two others and left one attendee dead, occurred at a well-publicized rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania; in contrast, the Sept. 15 incident, which resulted in no injuries, happened while Trump was golfing at his members-only club.
Trump is known as an avid golfer who owns several golf courses, including the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the incident took place.
Kelly said he had spoken to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about expanding the task force’s role to encompass both apparent assassination attempts.
Kelly’s group, the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump, began its investigation after the House of Representatives voted unanimously to form it in late July. Since then, the group has amassed thousands of pages of documents about the attempted assassination in Butler—Kelly’s hometown. Kelly was present at the rally, along with several relatives.
Although several other groups are also investigating the Butler incident, Kelly said, “we're the only ones with subpoena power,” giving the task force legal authority to compel people to produce the requested documents or face possible prosecution.
The task force is “serious about getting to the answers,” Kelly said, adding that if anyone is “dragging their feet,” the panel will push back.
Asked whether he could confirm some media outlets’ reporting that Secret Service personnel had been disciplined for the Butler incident, he replied that it was his understanding that some Secret Service personnel were “put on some type of a leave of duty,” but he needs to gather more information.
A Secret Service agent noticed the barrel of a rifle pointed at the golf course through the boundary fence and opened fire. Routh did not fire any shots, officials said.
The Martin County Sheriff's Office pulled over Routh on the I-95. He was driving a black Nissan, which had been reported stolen, according to the complaint.
The vehicle’s license plate matched Routh’s white Ford truck, according to the complaint.
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, has been charged with two federal gun crimes and briefly appeared in court earlier Monday. He did not enter a plea.
Routh was in the vicinity of Trump International Golf Club, where Trump went golfing, between approximately 1:59 a.m. to 1:31 p.m. ET, according to the complaint. Routh allegedly pointed his gun through the fence surrounding the members-only club while Trump was playing golf; a Secret Service agent saw the barrel and fired at Routh, who fled the scene but was captured soon thereafter.
A digital camera, two bags, a loaded "SKS-style 7.62x39 caliber rifle" with a scope, and a plastic bag containing food were recovered at the scene, according to the affidavit. The serial number on the rifle was “obliterated” and “unreadable to the naked eye,” it said.
Routh was charged on the federal level with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Those charges together carry a maximum of 20 years in prison, with the former charge being the most serious and carrying a penalty of up to 15 years behind bars.
The prosecution requests Routh remain in detention ahead of his trial, according to the complaint.
Routh made an eight-minute court appearance Monday morning but did not enter a plea.
Read the complaint here.
“I’m working on a bill to increase Secret Service protections to the same level as POTUS & VP. We cannot let this happen again,” Scott posted on X.
West Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said that the perimeter surrounding Trump International Golf Club, where Trump was golfing, was not secured because Trump is not the sitting president and that the Secret Service can only provide limited coverage.
DeSantis, who reiterated there will be a state probe about the incident, said that federal authorities investigating the matter “may not be the best thing.”
“I understand that the feds are involved but we do believe that there were multiple violations of state law. We also believe that there is a need to make sure that the truth about all this comes out in a way that is credible,” he said at a press conference.
Routh, 58, appeared in federal court for eight minutes and was informed of the charges: possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Those charges together carry a maximum of 20 years in prison, with the latter charge being the most serious and carrying a penalty of up to 15 years behind bars.
Routh told Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe he makes about $3,000 per month and has no savings or assets. He said he owns two trucks in Hawaii that are worth about $1,000. He said he sometimes supports his 25-year-old son.
Routh did not enter a plea. Prosecutors asked that he remain detained as a flight risk. His next court appearances have been scheduled for Sept. 23 and Sept. 30 for a bond hearing and a probable cause hearing or arraignment, respectively.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at.”
Trump cited past comments the two leaders had made, calling Trump a “threat to democracy.
The suspect, armed with an SKS-style rifle, has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii. He appeared in a Florida court on Sept. 16. Prosecutors have charged him with two federal gun crimes: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Trump is safe and has thanked the Secret Service and law enforcement for protecting him.
Here’s what else to know:
- At 1:30 pm on Sunday, while Trump was putting at the fifth hole, a Secret Service agent patrolling ahead of the former president noticed a rifle with a scope sticking through the fence and opened fire at the threat, authorities said.
- The suspect was 300 to 500 yards away from Trump and did not fire any shots, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff. The man fled in a black SUV.
- A witness saw him run from the bushes, and took a picture of his car and notified authorities.
- Ryan Wesley Routh was apprehended on Interstate 95 in the neighboring Martin County and taken into custody. Social media posts show Routh, 58, was a strong supporter of Ukraine.
- Left at the scene were two backpacks and a GoPro hung from the fence, suggesting Routh intended to film the incident, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff. A loaded SKS-style rifle was also left near the fence.
- Trump’s campaign schedule appears unchanged in the wake of the incident.
- President Joe Biden said the Secret Service "needs more help" and asked Congress to respond to the agency's needs.
He did not look nervous while waiting for his hearing.
Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe will preside over the hearing, Shanda Walker, courtroom deputy for the magistrate judge section, told The Epoch Times.
The charges against Routh will be announced during the court appearance. On Sunday, Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Florida's Palm Beach County, says that his prosecutors are working on charging the suspect with state-level crimes, but said that federal charges are also possible.
He will appear before Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe, she said.
The charges against Routh will be announced during the court appearance. On Sunday, Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Florida's Palm Beach County, says that his prosecutors are working on charging the suspect with state-level crimes, but said that federal charges are also possible.
Routh was just hundreds of yards away from Trump at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. A Secret Service Agent spotted the barrel of a gun through a hole in a fence at the perimeter of the course and fired at the suspect. The suspect did not fire shots, West Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told Fox News.
Few details have been verified about Routh, including a motive.
According to the official account so far, Routh allegedly took a position along the perimeter fence at the Trump International Golf Course at West Palm Beach, where he set up with an AK-47 style rifle, a GoPro, and two nondescript bags.
A Secret Service agent, patrolling the golf course ahead of Trump, who was at the fifth hole, noticed a rifle poking through the fence line and opened fire, at which point Routh fled. Routh was 300 to 500 yards from Trump, authorities said, and had a scope attachment on his rifle.
Routh was later apprehended on I-95 after a witness provided photos of his vehicle and license plate to law enforcement.
Routh is currently in the custody of the Martin County Police Department, where state attorneys are in the process of charging him with a series of crimes.
The incident might not be Routh’s first run-in with law enforcement.
According to a record search of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, a man named Ryan Wesley Routh has a rap sheet going back to 2001. It shows that in 2002 he was convicted of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, referring to a fully automatic rifle, which were outlawed in the United States in 1986.
The Epoch Times hasn't been able to independently verify it is the same Ryan Wesley Routh.
An archived X account under the same name as the suspect includes several posts expressing support for Ukraine, Taiwan, and NATO.
One post expressed interest in forming a volunteer force of Afghan soldiers to assist police in Haiti. The account owner also expressed interest in forming a Taiwanese foreign legion composed of NATO-trained Afghanis.
The account also reposted two posts supportive of Ukraine.
Someone of the same name also appeared in a New York Times article from March 2023.
That article described Routh as working to put together a foreign fighting force composed of NATO-trained Afghanis to aid Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Routh had a website where he sought to recruit volunteers to join the Ukrainian forces in Kyiv, according to the Associated Press. He also reportedly collected donations to aid in those efforts.
In a 2022 interview with Newsweek, Routh advocated for the U.S. to get involved in the conflict, which he said was “about good versus evil.”
The New York Times article said Routh spent several months in Ukraine in 2022 and planned to move dozens of Afghani soldiers who fled the Taliban, sometimes illegally, into Ukraine from Pakistan and Iran.
Trump has been critical of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, which he said he would quickly end, if elected. He has also criticized NATO members that have fallen short of the 2 percent GDP contribution obligation.
Routh’s son, Oran Routh, told DailyMail.com that his father hates Trump as “every reasonable person does.”
The younger Routh said his father was not a violent person and that the allegations against him were out of character for him.
“He’s my dad and all he’s had is couple traffic tickets, as far as I know,” he said. “'That’s crazy. I know my dad and love my dad, but that’s nothing like him.”
Voter records show Ryan W. Routh is currently registered as an unaffiliated voter in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is originally from the Tar Heel State, but moved to Hawaii at one point.
“He did not get off any rounds, and that was because the U.S. Secret Service agent acted so quickly,” Bradshaw told Fox News, referring to the suspect, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh.
“At the end of the day, the system worked,” he said.
“This is not like what happened in Butler,” Bradshaw said, referring to the July 13 attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally, days before Trump became the GOP presidential nominee.
The suspect was 300 to 500 yards from Trump when a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a rifle through a fence as Routh was allegedly in the bushes outside the perimeter of the course. The agent fired at the suspect, who fled, and was later arrested on a nearby highway.
Former President Donald Trump wrote to express his thanks to law enforcement and the Secret Service for their response to what the FBI said was an attempted assassination at his Florida golf course a day earlier.
“I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes – It was certainly an interesting day!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social late Sunday evening.
In the incident, a Secret Service agent engaged with the suspect after discovering a rifle muzzle sticking through a fence at the Trump International Golf Course while the former president was golfing, the Palm Beach County sheriff told a news conference Sunday.
The suspect, who was later detained in Florida’s Marion County, was around 400 to 500 yards from Trump when the agent discovered him. An AK-style rifle, a GoPro, and two backpacks with ceramic tile were found, according to photos released by law enforcement.
“Most importantly, I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his Office of brave and dedicated Patriots, and, all of Law Enforcement, for the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican Nominee in the upcoming Presidential Election, SAFE. The job done was absolutely outstanding. I am very proud to be an American,” he wrote in the post, some in all capital letters.
It’s the second time in as many months that Trump has faced an assassination attempt. In July, the former president narrowly escaped death after a man opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally, killing one attendee and injuring two others while striking Trump in the right ear.
In the aftermath of that incident, questions were raised about the Secret Service and local law enforcement, and whether enough was done to secure the rally. Similar questions have been raised by several lawmakers after Sunday’s incident.
Trump has, on multiple occasions, praised the Secret Service and its agents for responding to the Pennsylvania assassination attempt, noting that agents rushed to protect him as the shots were fired.
The suspect has been named as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58.
When detained, Routh had a calm, flat demeanor and showed little emotion when he was stopped, according to Martin County Sheriff William Snyder, who said his office detained him. “He never asked, ‘What is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it,” Snyder told reporters Sunday.
Hours before, Trump’s campaign and Trump himself said in emails that the former president was safe and unharmed in the apparent assassination attempt.
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me,” the former president wrote in an emailed statement.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, have condemned the latest assassination attempt.
“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety,” Biden said in a statement.
Harris wrote that she is “thankful” that Trump was unharmed and is “deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt.”
It was not immediately clear how the development would affect Trump’s schedule or campaign dynamics. Trump was set to speak from Florida about cryptocurrency live on Monday night on the social media site X and had stops planned Tuesday and Wednesday in Michigan and on New York’s Long Island.
In the aftermath, Trump spoke with his running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and several Fox News hosts, they said. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he spent several hours with Trump and called him “unstoppable,” according to a post he made on social media.
Fox News host Sean Hannity recounted on air his conversation with the former president’s golf partner, Steve Witkoff.
They had been on the fifth hole and about to go up to putt when they heard a “pop pop, pop pop.” Within seconds, he said Witkoff recounted, Secret Service agents “pounced” on Trump and “covered him” to protect him.
President Joe Biden said on Monday that the Secret Service needs more personnel after a probable assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump a day earlier.
Speaking to reporters in the morning, Biden said he did not yet have a full report of the Sunday attempt at Trump’s Florida golf course and that he was thankful the former president was fine.
“Thank God the president is OK,” he said, referring to Trump.
“The service needs more help,” Biden told reporters as he departed the White House for Delaware. “Congress should respond to their need.
“They may decide whether they need more personnel or not.”
Addressing the 2024 National HBCU Week Conference in Delaware, Biden repeated his earlier message and said that the agency is conducting its evaluation to determine whether any adjustments are necessary.
“An acting head of the Secret Service is in Florida today, assessing what happened and determining if any further adjustments need to be made to ensure the safety of our former president,” Biden told the crowd.
The president said that political violence “solves nothing.”
“In America, we resolve our differences peacefully at the ballot box and not at the end of a gun,” he said.
“America has suffered too many times the tragedy of an assassin’s bullet. It solves nothing and just tears the country apart. We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen.”
Biden isn’t the only elected U.S. official calling for more Secret Service resources since the second assassination attempt on Trump.
“Two assassination attempts in 60 days on a former President & the Republican nominee is unacceptable,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote on social media platform X. “The Secret Service must come to Congress tomorrow, tell us what resources are needed to expand the protective perimeter, & lets allocate it in a bipartisan vote the same day.”
The FBI told The Epoch Times on Sunday that it is investigating the incident as an “apparent assassination attempt,” and few details have been released by the agency since then.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and other law enforcement officials said at a news conference around the same time that Secret Service agents encountered the alleged shooter after discovering a rifle muzzle sticking through a chain-link fence on the outer perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach County, Florida. The agent then engaged with the suspect, who fled the scene, according to the officials.
Ryan Routh has been identified as the suspect. He faces felony gun charges in connection to the incident, the Department of Justice said.
Photos released during the news conference showed an SKS-style rifle, a GoPro camera, and two backpacks near the fence. One of the photos appeared to show the rifle sticking through the fence.
Posts made by Routh, 58, show that he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and also had made critical comments about the former president, according to an Epoch Times review of his social media accounts.
Trump survived an assassination attempt in July as he was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after his right ear was struck. One person died and two others were injured in the shooting, which the FBI said was carried out by Thomas Matthew Crooks.
On Sunday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris said they were briefed about the probable assassination attempt in Florida, with both saying they were grateful that Trump wasn’t harmed.
“I am deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today. As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,” said Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.
She said that she commends the Secret Service and law enforcement “for their vigilance” and that the Biden administration “will ensure the Secret Service has every resource, capability, and protective measure necessary to carry out its critical mission.”
Trump, meanwhile, thanked law enforcement and the Secret Service for their response in a Truth Social post issued late Sunday.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), also expressed gratitude that Trump had not been hurt.
“I’m glad President Trump is safe,” Vance wrote on X.
“I spoke to him before the news was public and he was, amazingly, in good spirits. Still much we don’t know, but I’ll be hugging my kids extra tight tonight and saying a prayer of gratitude.”
Emel Akan contributed to this report.
Biden confirmed that he had been briefed about the incident and he commended the work of the Secret Service and law enforcement officers.
“I am relieved that the former President is unharmed. There is an active investigation into this incident as law enforcement gathers more details about what happened,” Biden said.
“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.”
“The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club,” DeSantis said in a post on X.
“The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee.”
Trump survived another assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, just over two months ago. The ongoing investigation has not yet identified a motive for the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the Florida incident, with assistance from the Secret Service, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office, and the Martin County Sheriff’s office.
“Kelly and I are departing Mar-a-Lago, where we just spent a few hours with President Trump and are thanking God for protecting him today—once again,” Johnson said in a post on X, attaching a photo of himself, his wife Kelly, and Trump.
It’s unclear whether the visit had been planned in advance or if Johnson came in response to the incident.
“No leader [in] American history has endured more attacks and remained so strong and resilient,” Johnson said. “He is unstoppable.”
"The Task Force is monitoring this attempted assassination of former President Trump in West Palm Beach this afternoon. We have requested a briefing with the U.S. Secret Service about what happened and how security responded,” Chairman Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Ranking Member Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said in a joint statement.
“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. The Task Force will share updates as we learn more."
Hannity said he spoke to Trump, as well as Trump’s golf partner, Steve Witkoff, after the attempted assassination, which took place around 1:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday.
The two men told Hannity that they were on the fifth hole and were about to putt, when they heard a series of “pops” nearby.
"Within seconds, the Secret Service pounced on the president and covered him," Hannity said Witkoff told him. "You had snipers with tripods. They knew the direction where the shots had been fired. And they had eyes on the location where the shots had been fired."
Hannity said that after the shooting, Trump was brought to the clubhouse, at which point his main concern was ensuring that everyone near the incident was unharmed. He joked that he was upset that he wouldn’t be able to finish the hole he was playing.
In the aftermath of the incident, Trump spoke with Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), his running mate, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of his allies in the Senate.
“My resolve is only stronger after another attempt on my life,” he wrote.
Trump's campaign website redirects users to WinRed, the GOP fundraising arm, and a message reading, “I am safe and well, and no one was hurt. Thank God! But, there are people in this world who will do whatever it takes to stop us.”
The second attempt on the former president’s life occurred two months after an event in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which shots were fired at Trump.
The identity and motive of the Florida suspect are unknown, but officials have confirmed that the would-be assassin is in the custody of Florida’s Martin County Police Department with state-level charges pending. Officials say the suspect could also face federal charges.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday evening said he had been briefed on the incident, and expressed gratitude to law enforcement.
“I was just briefed by the Acting Director of the Secret Service,” Schumer said in a post on X. “I applaud the Secret Service for their quick response to ensure former President Trump’s safety.”
“There is no place in this country for political violence of any kind,” Schumer said. “The perpetrator must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, also condemned the incident.
Walz said he is “glad” to hear that the former president is safe.
“Violence has no place in our country,” he wrote in a post on X. “It’s not who we are as a nation.”
Walz’s comments were made after an earlier statement by Harris, who said she had been briefed on the incident and likewise expressed gratitude that Trump was safe.
The suspect, who has not yet been identified, is currently in the custody of Florida’s Martin County Police Department.
Local prosecutors are working on state-level warrant and pretrial detention applications, but officials say federal charges are also possible.
The FBI has said that the incident “appears to be” a second attempt on Trump’s life, but the suspect’s identity and motives for the attack remain unclear.
In a press conference following the incident, Bradshaw said that Trump has fewer Secret Service agents protecting him than a sitting president.
Because he’s not president, “security is limited to the areas that the areas that the Secret Service deems possible,” Bradshaw said.
“I would imagine that the next time he comes to the golf course, there will probably be a little more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done, they provided exactly what the protection should have been and their agent did a fantastic job.”
While former presidents and their spouses receive protection by the Secret Service for life, the specifics depend on the agency’s perception of threat levels. Typically, a former presidents’ protection wanes over time after they leave office.
The second attempted assassination follows an earlier failed attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, that led to heightened scrutiny on the Secret Service and the resignation of the agency's director at the time, Kimberly Cheatle.
Currently, Aronberg said, prosecutors in his office are working on crafting an application for warrants and pretrial detention of the suspect, who hasn’t yet been officially identified by authorities.
“Our filing of the warrant and charges at the state level does not preclude the federal charges that could be coming,” Aronberg said. “But in the meantime, it looks like the warrants and a pretrial detention motion will happen first.”
Local officials have confirmed that the suspect, who fled after facing fire from a Secret Service agent, was pulled over on I-95 and taken into custody by Martin County Police Department.
According to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, a Secret Service agent screening the course noticed a rifle sticking out of a fence surrounding the area and immediately opened fire, shooting between four and six rounds. Authorities said it was unclear if the gunman took any shots.
The suspect fled, but a witness took a picture of the assailant’s vehicle and license plate that was handed over to law enforcement, ultimately enabling police to apprehend him on the interstate.
Trump has confirmed that he is unharmed.
- At around 1:30 p.m. ET, while former President Donald Trump was golfing at the Trump International Golf Course at West Palm Beach, the Secret Service opened fire at a man hidden in bushes surrounding the golf course who had a rifle pointed toward the course, authorities say.
- Trump and his campaign have confirmed he is unharmed. “I am safe and well!” Trump wrote in all caps in a social media post after the incident.
- The FBI said in a statement that the shooting “appears to be” a second attempted assassination of the president, two months after he survived an attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The agency is leading the investigation into the incident.
- Palm Beach County officials said that the suspect, armed with an “AK-47 style” rifle and a scope, was within 300 to 500 yards of Trump.
- A Secret Service agent who was walking on the golf course a hole ahead of where Trump noticed the rifle sticking out of the fence and opened fire. The gunman then fled in a black SUV. The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, was taken into custody after a police traffic stop on I-95.
- The suspect had two backpacks hung on the fence and a GoPro intending to film the incident, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
- The suspect has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58. His motives are unknown.
In a campaign email after the incident, many details of which remain unknown, Trump confirmed he was safe.
“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! Nothing will slow me down. I will never surrender! I will always love you for supporting me. Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again. May God bless you, Donald Trump,” the email read, some in all caps.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s leading rival for the presidency, said in a post on X, “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. Violence has no place in America.”
President Joe Biden has not yet released a statement on the incident.
In the wake of a previous assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Biden delivered a national address. The White House hasn’t indicated if Biden will give another such address Sunday night.
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate, wrote on X, “I'm glad President Trump is safe. I spoke to him before the news was public and he was, amazingly, in good spirits. Still much we don't know, but I'll be hugging my kids extra tight tonight and saying a prayer of gratitude.”
In a brief statement on X, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said, “Political violence has no place in a democratic society.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), the second highest-ranking Republican in the House, wrote, “Thank God President Trump is safe. I can’t believe I’m having to say this once again this election cycle: there is absolutely no place for violence in politics. Grateful for all law enforcement involved who stopped what could’ve been a catastrophe.”
Some Republicans quickly blamed Democrats’ rhetoric, including claims that the former president is “a threat to democracy,” for both this incident and the earlier attempt in Butler.
“Is two assassination attempts on Donald Trump’s life considered a ‘threat to democracy’ yet?” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a leading Trump ally in the House, wrote on X.
