Trump targeted in second assassination attempt: what we know so far

At around 1:30 pm EST today, Trump was targeted in second assassination attempt at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The second attempt on his life comes just about nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another assassination attempt at his rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania.

According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, a Secret Service agent spotted the gunman at about “300-500 yards” from the former president. The agent fired, the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV. Some of the items the suspect left behind included the firearm with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming, and a GoPro camera.

Law enforcement later stopped the suspect on I-95 in a neighboring county. The suspect “had a calm, flat demeanor and showed little emotion when he was stopped,” said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.

“He never asked, ‘What is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it,” Snyder noted.

Who is the gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh?

The man in custody was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told the AP on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Records show Routh, 58, lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Hawaii in 2018. According to media reports, he is a self-employed affordable housing builder in Hawaii who went on social media to weigh in on politics and current events, criticizing the former president and expressing support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, he voted in the state’s Democratic primary in March of this year. Additionally, Routh has contributed to ActBlue, which processes donations for Democrats, federal campaign finance records show.

Among other matters, Routh also expressed strong support for Ukraine. In dozens of posts on X in 2022, he said he was willing to die in the fight and that “we need to burn the Kremlin to the ground.”

While presenting himself as an off-the-books liaison for the Ukrainian government, last year Routh used his personal Facebook account to encourage foreigners to fight in the war, including his attempts to to enlist Afghan conscripts.

“Afghan Soldiers- Ukraine is somewhat interested in 3000 soldiers, so I need every soldier that has a passport to send me a copy of their passport to send to Ukraine,” he wrote in one such post, which was published in English and Pashto.

In separate posts on X, Routh tagged President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. In an April post on X tagging Biden’s presidential account, he wrote Biden’s campaign should be: “called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA …make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”

Check out our video with the most recent updates from the law enforcement officials involved in the investigation of this assassination attempt, including the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and the Secret Service.

This is a developing story; check back for updates!

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