Another Would-Be Assassin Targets Donald Trump

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Former U.S. president Donald Trump – who narrowly averted being assassinated two months ago – was the target of yet another assassination attempt on Sunday afternoon at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

A would-be assassin – now identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh – was fired upon by agents of the U.S. Secret Service at approximately 1:30 p.m. EDT as he moved into position for an assassination attempt on the forty-fifth president at Trump International Golf Club, where Trump was playing golf at the time.

Routh initially fled the scene of the assassination attempt after being fired upon by the Secret Service. He was arrested moments later on Interstate 95 approximately 40 miles north-northwest of the golf course.

According to Palm Beach County sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Routh had taken position in a makeshift sniper’s nest one hole ahead of where Trump was playing golf – mounting a GoPro camera on a chain link fence with the apparent intention of recording the assassination. Two backpacks filled with ceramic tiles – adept at stopping bullets – were hung on opposite sides of where his rifle barrel was observed protruding from the fence.

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As soon as a member of the Secret Service advance team saw the barrel of the rifle poking out, he took “immediate action.”

Routh was in possession of an Avtomat Kalashnikova (AK-47) assault rifle outfitted with a scope. He does not appear to have fired any rounds from the weapon before the Secret Service advance agent opened fire on him. Trump was approximately 300-500 yards away from Routh when the Secret Service agent opened fire.

“The Secret Service agent (who) was on the course did a fantastic job,” Bradshaw said. “What they do is, they have an agent that jumps one hole ahead of time of where the president is at and he was able to spot this rifle barrel sticking out of a fence and immediately engage that individual, at which time that individual took off.”

“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!” Trump wrote in an email to his supporters. “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!  I will always love you for supporting me.”

“Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again,” Trump added.

According to a statement from the Martin County (Florida) sheriff’s office, its deputies took Routh into custody at mile marker 714 on Interstate 95 a little over an hour after the shooting based on information provided by the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office.

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“Based on BOLO information released by Palm Beach County, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office has stopped a vehicle and taken a suspect into custody believed to be connected to a shooting incident at Trump International in Palm Beach County,” the statement noted.

The apprehension resulted in all northbound lanes on Interstate 95 being temporarily shut down.

Martin County sheriff William D. Snyder told WPTV-5 (NBC – West Palm Beach) the would-be assassin “was not armed when we took him out of the car.” Routh had a “calm, flat demeanor,” according to the sheriff – and reportedly did not question why he was being taken into custody.

“He never asked, ‘What is this about?’” Snyder said. “Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it.”

The apprehension of Routh was greatly assisted by a witness who observed him fleeing his sniper’s nest in a black Nissan SUV. The witness photographed Routh’s vehicle – including its license plate – and provided that information to law enforcement.

“Fortunately, we were able to locate a witness who came to us and said ‘hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes – he jumped into a black Nissan,” Bradshaw said.

After Routh was taken into custody, the witness was taken to Martin County where he identified Routh as the individual he observed fleeing from the bushes near the golf course.

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The feds were slow to call the incident an assassination attempt, instead referring to it initially as a “protective incident.”

“The Secret Service, in conjunction with the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office, is investigating a protective incident involving former president Donald Trump,” a statement from the Secret Service noted. “The former president is safe.”

“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” a statement from his campaign noted.

Initial reports from mainstream media – including The New York Post – suggested the shooting was unrelated to Trump. However, subsequent reporting revealed the former president was indeed Routh’s intended target.

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WHO IS RYAN ROUTH?

Routh was convicted in North Carolina in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction – namely an automatic machine gun found in his possession following a three-hour standoff with police in Greensboro, N.C.

Details of that incident were chronicled at the time by The (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record.

Last March, Routh was interviewed by The New York Times for a story about the International Legion – a military unit of foreign fighters formed by the government of Ukraine.

In the Times article, Routh – billed as a “construction worker’ from Greensboro – discussed his plans to move Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban from Iran and Pakistan into Ukraine. The article indicated Routh “spent several months in Ukraine” in 2022.

In June of 2022, Routh gave an interview to Newsweek Romania about his efforts on behalf of the Ukrainian war effort.

“To me, a lot of the other conflicts are grey, but this conflict is definitely black and white,” Routh said at the time. “This is about good versus evil. This is a storybook, you know, any movie we’ve ever watched, this is definitely evil against good.“

(Click to view)

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In the video, Routh said he was “from North Carolina originally but live in Hawaii now” and “flew all the way from Hawaii” to Kyiv.

Routh said he came to Ukraine “to fight,” but was told upon arrival that due to his age and lack of military experience he was “not an ideal candidate” to suit up as a soldier.

That’s when he began his recruitment efforts in Kyiv on behalf of the Ukrainian war effort.

“We need thousands and thousands and thousands of people here fighting with the Ukrainians,” Routh said. “If governments will not send their official military, then we civilians have to pick up the torch and make this thing happen.”

Routh complained bitterly in the interview about the lack of financial support for Ukraine, saying he would get “no response” when he asked Americans to contribute “five bucks” to the cause.

“I increasingly get more disappointed in humanity, and I’m beginning to question whether we’re going to end up on the right side of this equation,” he said. “Does the world not care?”

This is a developing story… please check back for updates.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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