Miami, US, Sep 15 (EFE).- A suspect is in custody after what authorities described as an “attempted assassination” of former US president Donald Trump at his Florida golf club on Sunday.
The Republican presidential candidate was unharmed in the incident at Trump International Golf Club.
“The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” the FBI, who is leading the investigation, said in a statement.
Around 1.30 pm (17:30 GMT) a Secret Service agent on the golf course further along from where Trump was playing noticed a rifle barrel sticking out of a fence and opened fire at a suspect, who then fled in a black Nissan, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a press conference.
Thanks to a witness who saw the suspect run from the bushes and who then photographed the vehicle, the individual was then pulled over in the next county, identified by the witness, and taken into custody.
An AK47-style rifle and scope was found in the bushes, as well as two backpacks and a GoPro camera.
A Secret Service spokesman said the former president “is safe and unharmed,” and although Trump had been about 300-500 yards away at the time agents engaged with the suspect, “with a scope like that, that’s not a long distance.”
“FEAR NOT! I am safe and well, and no one was hurt. Thank God!” Trump said on his fundraising website. “But, there are people in this world who will do whatever it takes to stop us. I will not stop fighting for you. I will Never Surrender!”
The identity of the suspect has not yet been officially made public, but various US media outlets have identified him, citing law enforcement sources, as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58.
President Joe Biden said he had been briefed on the incident and was “relieved that the former president is 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 added.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who will face Trump in the Nov. 5 election, said she was glad the former president was safe.
“Violence has no place in America,” she wrote on X.
Also on X, Republican VP hopeful, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, wrote that he spoke to Trump before the news was made public and that 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,” he wrote.
Florida will be conducting its own investigation into the incident, Governor Ron DeSantis wrote 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,” he added.
The result of Sunday’s assassination attempt was very different from that on July 13, when a 20-year-old shot at Trump from a rooftop during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
A member of the public was killed, others wounded and Secret Service shot the suspect dead.
The event led to numerous resignations due to security failures, including that of the then Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
After this, the Secret Service approved a plan to increase Trump’s security, which includes the use of bulletproof screens at his outdoor events, as well as increasing the number of security personnel accompanying him. EFE
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