OAN Staff Sophia Flores
5:06 PM – Monday, September 16, 2024
During a press conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, authorities gave updates on the second assassination attempt on 45th President Donald Trump’s life.
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Before getting into the details of the assassination attempt itself, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw asserted in an announcement that the security level at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was and is the “highest it can possibly be,” following the second attempt on Sunday.
Authorities also made sure it was known that Trump’s golf session at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach on that day was “off the record,” meaning that it was not included in any schedules that the general public could view.
Secret Service was a hole ahead of where Trump was hitting when an agent suddenly spotted the AK-style rifle sticking out through the fence. They immediately fired back.
While gunshots did go off, Sheriff Bradshaw clarified that the suspect “didn’t even get close to getting a round off.”
As soon as shots were fired from the Secret Service agent’s gun, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh fled the scene in a car. He even left behind a digital camera, a backpack, and a black bag containing food in addition to the loaded AK-style rifle with a scope on the course’s fence line. He was apprehended soon after.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that cell phone data revealed that Routh was near the gold course for nearly 12 hours before the agent noticed him and fired shots.
Routh has an extensive criminal record dating back to the 1990’s. In 2002, according to North Carolina Department of Corrections records, he was charged with a possession of a weapon of mass destruction and a felony. In another incident, he was charged with multiple misdemeanors, including a hit-and-run offense, resisting arrest, and a concealed weapons violation.
Sheriff Bradshaw concluded the press conference by stating that Trump called him on Sunday night and “thanked [him] for everything that we did along with the Secret Service.”
“He knows we worked great together, and he feels safe — that’s important because he is. And what we did yesterday proves that the system can work,” Bradshaw said. “Because the suspect didn’t even get close to getting a round off and we apprehended them, and brought him to justice. So, we’re were very, very proud of that.”
This second assassination attempt came just 50 days before Donald Trump goes head-to-head against Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
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