Suspect did not fire shots, did not see Trump, Secret Service chief says
Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. said agents discovered Routh had a rifle and the 58-year-old opened fire before fleeing.
“He did not fire or attempt to fire at our agents,” Rowe said. “Upon receiving reports of gunfire, the former president’s security forces immediately evacuated the president to a safe location.”
Rowe also told reporters that Trump was out of the gunman’s sights during an unscheduled visit to his golf club.
“The Secret Service’s defensive techniques were effective yesterday,” Rowe added.
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Updated at 16:57 EDT
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Biden Meets with President Trump – White House
A White House official said Biden spoke with Trump following the assassination attempt.
According to reporters, the White House said, “Mr. Biden spoke with former President Trump and expressed relief that he is safe. The two had a cordial conversation and former President Trump expressed his gratitude for the call.”
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Updated 18.22 EDT
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For those of you joining for the first time, we would like to inform you of the current situation.
Federal prosecutors filed gun charges against Ryan Wesley Routh, who was arrested in Florida yesterday after what investigators believe to be a potential assassination attempt on Donald Trump. In the indictment, FBI special agents revealed that Routh’s cell phone was left unattended near a tree at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach for nearly 12 hours and that he was previously found in possession of a fully automatic rifle in North Carolina and was a convicted felony for possessing a “weapon of mass destruction and destruction.” Trump has tried to use the incident, in which he was not injured, to his advantage, telling Fox News that he holds Joe Biden and Kamala Harris responsible for his attempt to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss because he described them as a threat to democracy.
Here’s something else that happened today:
The Martin County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office released video footage of the moment Routh was arrested yesterday.
Biden spoke briefly to reporters about the incident and said the Secret Service should be given more resources, including personnel.
Harris said she was “deeply disturbed” by the “potential assassination attempt” aimed at President Trump.
In addition to bashing Democrats, Trump is using the potential assassination attempt to raise funds.
Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said additional funding for the Secret Service could be included in a spending bill he is negotiating with House Republicans.
The city of Springfield, Ohio, has canceled its annual celebration of cultural diversity after becoming a target of criticism over the Biden administration’s border policies.
“I’ve ordered a paradigm shift,” said Secret Service Commissioner Ronald Lowe. He said the current methodology is working and “sound,” but called for a reevaluation in the current “dynamic threat environment.” He previously said the Secret Service is constantly evaluating its methodology “based on the threat.”
Rowe said Trump was not scheduled to be on the golf course on Sunday. When a reporter asked if Rowe knew if Trump would be on the golf course at that time, Rowe responded, “It’s currently under investigation. I don’t have any information on that.”
“Routh did not fire or attempt to fire shots at our agents,” Rowe said. “Upon receiving reports of gunfire, the former president’s security forces immediately evacuated the president to a safe location.” Rowe also told reporters that the suspect “was out of the shooter’s line of sight” during an unscheduled visit to Trump’s golf club.
This is Helen Sullivan, the Guardian’s live coverage of US politics.
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Springfield, Ohio’s annual cultural diversity celebration has been canceled after the city became a target of criticism over the Biden administration’s border policies.
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance and Donald Trump spread false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, leading to a series of bomb threats being received by the city.
“In light of recent threats and safety concerns, the City of Springfield has made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Kulturfest celebration,” city officials wrote in a statement posted to Facebook on Monday.
“This decision was made with the safety and health of our community and event attendees in mind.”
Scheduled for September 27th and 28th, Culture Fest is an event aimed at celebrating diversity, arts and local culture.
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Shortly after Donald Trump became president, authorities tried to warn him about the dangers of playing at his own golf course because of its proximity to a public road, according to The Washington Post.
Investigators told him that if a photographer with a long lens could take pictures of the president on the course, a shooter could do the same.
Despite these warnings, Trump reportedly insisted his clubs were safe and decided to continue playing golf with them.
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Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in what the FBI is calling an “assassination attempt,” made a series of donations to Democratic candidates in the 2020 presidential election, according to Federal Election Commission records.
According to the filing, Routh has donated to campaigns supporting Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard, Beto O’Rourke and Tom Steyer.
The donations, which did not exceed $25, were made between September 2019 and March 2020, records show.
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Updated 17.29 EDT
Director Rowe defends Secret Service actions, but says new threat level “mandates a paradigm shift”
“We’ve ordered a paradigm shift,” Secret Service spokesman Ronald Rowe said.
He said the current methodology is working and “sound,” but called for a reevaluation in the current “dynamic threat environment.”
He previously said the Secret Service constantly evaluates its methods “based on the threat.”
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Updated 17.17 EDT
Trump’s visit to the golf club was unscheduled, Rowe said.
Ronald Lowe said former President Donald Trump was not scheduled to be at the golf course on Sunday.
When reporters asked whether Rouse knew whether Trump was scheduled to be on the golf course at that time, he responded, “That’s under investigation. I don’t have any information on that.”
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Updated at 17:15 EDT
Suspect did not fire shots, did not see Trump, Secret Service chief says
Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. said agents discovered Routh had a rifle and the 58-year-old opened fire before fleeing.
“He did not fire or attempt to fire at our agents,” Rowe said. “Upon receiving reports of gunfire, the former president’s security forces immediately evacuated the president to a safe location.”
Rowe also told reporters that Trump was out of the gunman’s sights during an unscheduled visit to his golf club.
“The Secret Service’s defensive techniques were effective yesterday,” Rowe added.
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Updated at 16:57 EDT
Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI’s Miami field office took the stage and said the FBI was investigating the incident as an “attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
“We take this extremely seriously and are determined to explain what happened,” he said.
Veltri said Routh became the subject of an FBI investigation in 2019 based on a tip that he possessed a firearm.
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Updated at 16:44 EDT
“In the wooded area where Routh fled, investigators found a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a black plastic bag containing food,” LaPointe said.
Lapointe also said Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010. Those felonies prohibited Routh from possessing a firearm, Lapointe said.
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Updated at 16:33 EDT
Law enforcement press conference regarding attempted assassination of President Trump
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Marc-Enzie LaPointe is providing an update on the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, which took place at a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Lapointe confirmed that Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was indicted on firearms charges and appeared in court this morning in West Palm Beach.
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Updated at 16:34 EDT
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, issued a statement about the possible assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, calling this week “a time to reckon with the ways in which our political process has been tainted by reprehensible violence.”
“For the second time in recent months, police are faced with an even more urgent task: completing a thorough, swift and transparent investigation into yesterday’s close call,” he said.
“The American people deserve an explanation. Tens of millions of Americans deserve assurances that a former president who re-appoints them will receive all appropriate safeguards,” he added.
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Updated 16.26 EDT
