Former President Donald Trump is safe as law enforcement responds to West Palm Beach, Florida, after what the FBI now says was an apparent second assassination attempt against Trump this year.
Trump, who survived a gunshot wound in Butler, Pennsylvania, at a rally in mid-July, was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach on Sunday. Law enforcement officials apparently encountered a man who had attempted to assassinate Trump there.
There are conflicting details and reports pouring out of official and unofficial sources, but Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr. said on social media that an AK-47 was smuggled into the bushes on the golf course.
There are other reports that the man had also smuggled a Go-Pro camera, presumably to film an effort to do so.
Trump’s campaign had said in a statement that Trump is safe after gunshots were fired in his vicinity. It’s unclear who fired the shots, and it’s also unclear at this time what the situation with the alleged gunman is–whether he is alive or dead, in custody or not, and more.
Law enforcement officials, per the U.S. Secret Service, from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office, will soon brief media.
Follow along here on Breitbart News for live breaking news and analysis from this situation.
UPDATE 9:46 p.m. ET:
Separately from this incident, CNN is reporting that Trump’s inner circle were informed by intelligence officials this week that foreign adversaries of the U.S. have been targeting them:
Specifically, the Iranians seem to be at the center of efforts to target Trump and those around him. Again, this is unrelated to this incident it appears, but noteworthy nonetheless given the rising level of danger around Trump.
UPDATE 9:40 p.m. ET:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced the state of Florida will conduct its own investigation into what happened separate from the federal investigation:
UPDATE 9:38 p.m. ET:
The U.K. Daily Mail interviewed the son of the would-be assassin and he confirmed his dad does in fact “hate” Donald Trump.
From the Daily Mail piece:
He said his father hates Trump as ‘every reasonable person does.
‘I don’t like Trump either,’ the son added.
But he said his dad is not a violent person and couldn’t believe his father would target the president.
‘He’s my dad and all he’s had is couple traffic tickets, as far as I know,’ the son said. ‘That’s crazy. I know my dad and love my dad, but that’s nothing like him.’
UPDATE 9:36 p.m. ET:
President Joe Biden has finally weighed in:
UPDATE 8:25 p.m. ET:
Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita sent this letter to all campaign staff on Sunday evening, per a campaign source who provided the text of it to Breitbart News:
Susie and I want to share a brief update on the incident that occurred today in West Palm Beach.
Today, for the second time in two months, an evil monster attempted to take the life of President Trump. Thankfully, no one was injured at the Golf Course. President Trump and everyone accompanying him are safe thanks to the great work of the United States Secret Service.
This is not a matter that we take lightly. Your safety is always our top priority. We ask that you remain vigilant in your daily comings and goings. Be observant and maintain a constant level of situational awareness. We urge you to always follow direction from law enforcement, including USSS, local police, and office armed security guards.
As we enter the last 50 days of President Trump’s campaign, we must remember that we will only be able Save America from those who seek to destroy it by working together as one team. President Trump and Senator Vance expect the best from us, and we must perform every day.
As always, we are appreciative of your fortitude, strength, and dedication.
We will win this November.
Chris and Susie
UPDATE 8:15 p.m. ET:
The suspect conducted multiple interviews with major media outlets including the New York Times:
And Semafor:
UPDATE 7:47 p.m. ET:
Edward Snowden suggested that there is likely a lot more to this story than it looks:
UPDATE 7:42 p.m. ET:
On CNN just now, Marc Caputo confirmed the X account in question is in fact Routh’s account.
It’s worth noting that Kamala Harris, the Democrat nominee for president this year, has used the exact same phraseology as the would-be Trump assassin.
“Democracy is on the ballot,” is something both Harris–on Facebook in early in July–and Routh, in an X post this spring, said publicly–verbatim.
UPDATE 7:37 p.m. ET:
There need to be some pretty serious questions answered in the aftermath of this second assassination attempt against Trump, and how the would-be assassins could have gotten as far along in the processes as they did to go after Trump. One time might seem like a mistake, but two times seems like more than a coincidence. How did these would-be assassins get this close and find these weaknesses in the security plans around Trump and come this close two different times in two different months? Is there something more to it than it looks? People will want to get to the bottom of that question and soon.
UPDATE 7:32 p.m. ET:
To the surprise of nobody, people throughout the establishment media continue to behave recklessly:
UPDATE 7:28 p.m. ET:
Donald Trump Jr. has identified the would-be assassin’s account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter:
This account has several posts suggesting that Routh wanted to “get rid of” Trump, or that he wanted Trump “gone”:
It’s worth noting law enforcement officials have yet to identify this as the would-be assassin’s social media account, but Trump’s eldest son saying it is his account is important since Trump Jr. was ahead of law enforcement in confirming the AK-47 detail for instance.
UPDATE 7:25 p.m. ET:
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said this on social media:
UPDATE 6:36 p.m. ET:
Not that anyone would expect Joe Biden to be on the ball on a Sunday afternoon, but the sitting “president of the United States”–if you can really call him that–is still silent on the second assassination attempt against Trump.
The White House, however, did release a statement saying Biden and Vice President Harris (who replaced Biden on the ticket after his abysmal debate performance against Trump) were briefed on this today.
UPDATE 6:22 p.m. ET:
NBC News reports that the suspect, who is in custody, is named Ryan Wesley Routh:
There are lots of rumors floating around about Routh’s social media accounts and more. Those are as of yet unconfirmed but we and other media outlets are working very hard to confirm them.
UPDATE 5:49 p.m. ET:
The wife of anti-Trump “whistleblower” Alex Vindman–whose brother Eugene is running for Congress in Virginia–published this on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter:
She has been roundly criticized for this:
UPDATE 5:44 p.m. ET:
Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Trump’s running mate, speaks out saying he spoke with Trump before the news went public and that Trump was in “good spirits”:
UPDATE 5:43 p.m. ET:
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe–no Trump fan–is on CNN detailing that this suspect who’s in custody seems to have had lots of planning to pull this together and that prosecutors and law enforcement will likely be aiming to prove that. McCabe is also saying the distance between Trump and the possible shooter with the scope and this rifle are not that far away.
UPDATE 5:41 p.m. ET:
CNN reports that the suspect’s Go-Pro camera was “mounted on the fence” nearby him where he had these backpacks and the scoped rifle.
UPDATE 5:32 p.m. ET:
Despite the continued threats to Trump’s life, top Democrats like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries continue to incite leftists against him. AFTER the news had come out that Trump survived another assassination attempt, Jeffries sent out this humdinger of a post on social media:
Top Republicans are ripping Jeffries for continuing to promote incensed rhetoric:
UPDATE 5:29 p.m. ET:
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat nominee for president this year, said on social media she has been briefed about the assassination attempt:
UPDATE 5:20 p.m. ET:
The U.S. Secret Service official at the press conference said these are “dangerous times,” and that the agency has increased resources used to protect Trump since the first failed assassination attempt against him less than two months ago.
The sheriff’s office official added that the public does not need to panic, and the area is safe. But officials did say for the public to avoid the area around Trump’s golf course for the time being–that being said, the sheriff’s office official said there is a school and post office and other things nearby and law enforcement will make it as easy as possible on local residents.
UPDATE 5:16 p.m. ET:
The FBI’s lead field agent from the Miami field office says that the FBI is now leading the federal side of the investigation. It’s expected that federal charges will be filed against the gunman, but the state attorney also said at the press conference that until that happens there will be warrants and a pre-trial detention motion worked up against the suspect who is currently in custody.
UPDATE 5:15 p.m. ET:
A U.S. Secret Service agent, per the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office, engaged a man who had an AK-47-style rifle with a scope and backpacks and a Go-Pro. The agent apparently shot at the man, who then fled into a black Nissan and took off. A witness, per the sheriff’s office, saw the man fleeing and the vehicle and took pictures of it and the vehicle’s tag. Law enforcement were able to encounter the man and take him into custody on I-95 in Martin County, Florida.
Apparently, the agents from the Secret Service travel a hole or two ahead of Trump when he’s golfing to secure the area, and that’s how the U.S. Secret Service was able to encounter the man before he was able to get shots off against Trump.
UPDATE 5:11 p.m. ET:
The law enforcement press conference at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office just concluded, and it’s clear that this was a second assassination attempt against Trump. More details from the press conference are forthcoming in moments.
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