By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – The suspect in an “attempted assassination” against former U.S. president Donald Trump was 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, a Democratic supporter who was charged with federal gun crimes, U.S. law enforcement officials said Monday.
Routh’s court appearance and announced charges followed Sunday’s incident near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that the suspect had numerous previous felony charges and was also the subject of a 2019 tip concerning his possession of firearms.
The U.S. Secret Service confirmed that Routh did not fire any shots at Trump and that the Republican presidential candidate was not in his line of sight.
Investigators said, however, that he had been near the golf course for 12 long hours before being spotted by the Secret Service.
It raised questions about security measures surrounding Trump, who survived another assassination while speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
However, Ronald Rowe Jr, acting director of the Secret Service, said that once an agent detected Routh armed with a rifle, “he discharged his firearm” before the suspect fled.
CLOSE PROTECTION
“He did not fire or get off any shots at our agent,” Rowe stressed. “With reports of gunfire, the former president’s close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location.”
Rowe also told reporters that Trump was “out of sight of the gunman” during his unscheduled visit to the golf club.
“The protective methodologies of the Secret Service were effective yesterday,” Rowe added.
U.S. President Joe Biden backed the Secret Service and said that there was “no place for political violence” in the United States.
Yet Trump quickly blamed Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s “rhetoric” for the attack.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Routh previously made a series of donations to Democratic presidential candidates in the 2020 elections.
The documents show that Routh donated to campaigns supporting Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard, Beto O’Rourke, and Tom Steyer.
The records showed that the donations, which did not exceed $25, were made between September 2019 and March 2020.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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