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WASHINGTON D.C. (WSAU) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun looking into the assassination attempt on former President Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course on Sunday, with a suspect already being detained by authorities.
The Associated Press reports that the FBI believes the incident “appears to be an attempted assassination” of the former president and an investigation has opened into the matter. This would be the second such attempt on Trump’s life in the past two months after Secret Service agents saw a man carrying a firearm near the golf course while Trump was playing and an AK-style weapon being discovered at the scene. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also said on Sunday that state authorities will open an investigation into the assassination attempt and how “he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee.”
The U.S. Secret Service announced that the agents assigned to Trump’s detail fired four to five shots at the suspect, who has been identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh. According to his social media presence and the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Routh has been a strong supporter of the Democratic Party, donating to the party’s fundraising arm ActBlue in both 2019 and 2020 and making online claims that included the former president wanting to “make Americans slaves against master” and that “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose,” referring to Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the presidency.
Routh was also known for his strong support of Ukraine in the war against Russia and was profiled by both the New York Times and Newsweek in March of 2023 for his work recruiting fighters to join Ukraine’s military.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night thanking everyone for their prayers, saying, “I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes. It was certainly an interesting day! 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!”
CBS News reports that both President Biden and Vice President Harris have been briefed on the attempt and “are relieved to know that he is safe.” The incident makes Trump just the second president in U.S. history to survive two different assassination attempts, joining Gerald Ford, who survived both attempts on his life in September of 1975.
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