Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Sunday night that Florida will not leave the job of investigating Sunday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump to the federal government.
“The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club,” DeSantis posted 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 wrote.
The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club.
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…
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 16, 2024
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Trump was between 300 and 500 yards away from the armed suspect when a Secret Service agent “engaged” with the suspect.
“Secret Service did exactly what they should have done, and their agent did a fantastic job,” he said, according to Axios.
David Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County, said that the suspect is Ryan Routh, 58, according to USA Today.
Bradshaw said Trump International Golf Couse is “surrounded by shrubbery” with a limited perimeter.
“When somebody gets into the shrubbery, they’re pretty much out of sight,” he said.
Do you trust Florida’s investigators more than you trust the federal government?
Because Trump is not a sitting president, Bradshaw said, “security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.”
“I would imagine the next time he comes at a golf course, there’ll probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter,” he said.
Trump was between holes five and six, when the incident took place, according to CNN.
A Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of a fence, Bradshaw said.
The agent was part of a team that goes one or two holes ahead of Trump as he plays, Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw noted that a witness played a major role in Routh,’s arrest, according to CNN.
“We are able to catch a witness that came to us and said, ‘Hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes, he jumped into a black Nissan and I took a picture of the vehicle and the tag,’ which was great,” Bradshaw said.
Routh was later arrested by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. The witness later identified Routh as the man seen running from the scene.
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