Secret service will have ‘every resource’ to protect Trump says Biden, after apparent assassination attempt – live | US news

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Why where ceramic tiles found in the suspect’s backpacks?

You may be wondering about the ceramic tiles found in the bushes with the suspect’s belongings.

Palm Beach county sheriff Ric Bradshaw says that there were “two backpacks which were hung on the fence that had ceramic tile in them”.

Analysts, including a former FBI negotiator, told CNN that it is possible that the suspect may have planned to use the backpacks as body armour. The ceramic tiles or plates referred to are likely the kind used as protection from gunfire.

There has been no official confirmation of this from authorities.

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Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has said on X that, “the State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club.”

He added, “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”:

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

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Ronald Rowe, the acting Secret Service Director is on his way to Florida, CNN reports.

Rowe has held the Service’s most senior position since Kimberly Cheatle resigned in July after the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

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Summary: Who is the man reportedly detained in the Trump ‘assassination attempt’?

The suspect in the latest apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump was in custody on Sunday night after being apprehended unarmed, having apparently abandoned his assault rifle at the golf course before fleeing.

The man in custody was Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told the Associated Press. The officials who identified the suspect spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

The identity of the suspect had not been officially confirmed on Sunday evening but he has been named by several other mainstream media outlets, also citing anonymous sources. The Guardian also spoke to Routh’s son, Oran Routh, who said he had not spoken to his father since the incident.

Law enforcement found a scope on the gun with the belongings abandoned at the fence when the man fled that would have brought Trump well within range, although the suspected gunman was much further away from the former president, from his vantage point at the golf course, than the man who shot Trump in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July.

Routh was described in various reports as a construction worker previously working in North Carolina. He was strong opponent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine who had tried to recruit overseas volunteers to fight for Ukraine. Oran Routh said that his father had volunteered in Ukraine. Authorities have not suggested a motive.

The Martin county sherriff, William Snyder, said that the suspect did not display much emotion when police apprehended him as he was driving away from the scene and arrested him.

The suspect was pursued after he ran to a car and was seen by an onlooker who was able to record the registration of his car and share it with law enforcement, police said at a press conference earlier on Sunday.

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Updated at 21.21 EDT

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has released a statement saying, “There never is a place for political violence of any kind in America”, and commending law enforcement officials:

There never is a place for political violence of any kind in America.

As the investigation into today’s incident continues, let us commend law enforcement for their actions to keep the former President safe from harm.

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) September 16, 2024

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In case you missed this account earlier: Fox News presenter Sean Hannity said he’d spoken to both Trump and Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate investor and longtime Trump friend who was on the golf course with him on Sunday.

“They were on the fifth hole. And the way Steve described this, the way the president described it, they both had exactly the same story, which is that they heard pop pop, pop pop,” said Hannity. The Secret Service “pounced on the president, covered him”, he added.

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Biden has also posted that statement to X. Here it is:

I have been briefed by my team regarding what federal law enforcement is investigating as a possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today.

A suspect is in custody, and I commend the work of the Secret Service and their law enforcement partners for their…

— President Biden (@POTUS) September 16, 2024

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CNN has spoken to the son of the alleged suspect, who has been named in US media outlets as Ryan Wesley Routh.

Routh’s son said, “Ryan is my father, and I don’t have any comment beyond a character profile of him as a loving and caring father, and honest hardworking man. I don’t know what has happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion, because from the little I’ve heard it doesn’t sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violent. He’s a good father, and a great man, and I hope you can portray him in an honest light.”

Authorities have not publicly identified the suspect. The Guardian has not confirmed this independently.

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Trump’s former White House doctor, Representative Ronny L Jackson of Texas, has spoken to the former president, he told the New York Times.

Jackson tended to Trumps’s ear after the assassination attempt on 13 July.

He said that about two hours after the incident on Sunday, he called Trump to check in on him.

“He told me he was always glad to hear from me but he was glad he didn’t need my services today,” said Jackson.

“I just told him I was glad he was OK and he said he can’t believe this happened,” Jackson said. “But he said he’s doing well and the team was doing well.”

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Biden says ‘relieved’ and will ‘ensure that Secret Service has every resource’ to protect Trump

The White House has released a statement from President Joe Biden, in which he says, “I am relieved that the former President is unharmed.”

Biden also says he has, “directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.”

Here is the full statement:

I have been briefed by my team regarding what federal law enforcement is investigating as a possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today. A suspect is in custody, and I commend the work of the Secret Service and their law enforcement partners for their vigilance and their efforts to keep the former President and those around him safe. I am relieved that the former President is unharmed. There is an active investigation into this incident as law enforcement gathers more details about what happened. As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.

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Updated at 20.38 EDT

Ryan Wesley Routh –the person US media, including the New York Times, are naming as the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt – was interviewed by the New York Times in 2023, “about Americans volunteering to aid Ukraine. Routh, who had no military experience, said he had traveled there after Russia’s 2022 invasion,” the paper’s Chief White House Correspondent, Peter Baker, reports.

Authorities have not publicly identified the suspect or any motive. The Guardian has not confirmed this independently.

A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii. Routh was interviewed by the @nytimes in 2023 about Americans volunteering to aid Ukraine. Routh, who had no military experience, said he had traveled there after Russia’s 2022 invasion. https://t.co/G6V0gkDOMl

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) September 15, 2024

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Updated at 20.30 EDT

Here is a reminder of how the incident unfolded:

US Secret Service agents posted a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.

An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. The man was later stopped by law enforcement and taken into custody in a neighbouring county.

He had a calm, flat demeanour and showed little emotion when he was stopped and didn’t question why he was pulled over, according 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 said.

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Here is Palm Beach county sheriff Ric Bradshaw earlier:

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Former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe is speaking now on CNN.

He speculates that the suspect’s positioning on the golf course, “Would indicate that he knew the layout of the course,” and that it seems to show a “high degree of planning”, but that the question is how the suspect knew that Trump would be playing today.

He said that it may have just been luck.

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Trump campaign leaders are crediting the Secret Service with keeping the former president safe following an apparent assassination attempt in Florida, the Associated Press reports.

In an email sent to staff Sunday evening, senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote, “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,” they wrote.

They added that campaign staffers’ safety is “always our top priority” and asked those receiving the email to “remain vigilant” and “observant and maintain a constant level of situational awareness.”

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It is not clear whether the incident will affect Trump’s campaign schedule. He was set to speak from Florida about cryptocurrency live on Monday night on the social media site X for the launch of his sons’ crypto platform, the Associated Press reports.

He planned a town hall Tuesday in Flint, Michigan with his former press secretary, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, followed by a rally on Wednesday on New York’s Long Island.

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What we know so far

If you’re just joining us, here is what we know so far:

The Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump is “safe and unharmed” after US Secret Service agents opened fire when they spotted a person with a firearm at the Trump international golf course west of Palm Beach, where the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort home is located. Law enforcement officials said the gunman was in some bushes near the property line of the golf course when Secret Service agents, who were clearing holes ahead of where Trump was playing, spotted a rifle barrel in the bushes.

Agents engaged the gunman and fired at least four rounds of ammunition about 1.30pm local time. The gunman then dropped his rifle, two backpacks and other items and fled in a black Nissan car. A witness, the sheriff said, saw the gunman and managed to take photos of his car and license plate. In a press conference, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said a male suspect had been detained by authorities. According to Bradshaw, the suspect was relatively calm. The gunman was spotted about 300 to 500 yards from where Trump was playing, Secret Service officials said.

The FBI called the incident “what appears to be an attempted assassination of the former president”. The FBI and other law enforcement officials said the suspect had a scope on an AK47 rifle, and a GoPro camera with which he apparently intended to record footage and two backpacks with ceramic tiles in it.

The suspect who was arrested was named as Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told the Associated Press. Fox news and CNN also reported the same name, citing law enforcement sources. Authorities have not publicly identified the suspect. The Guardian has not confirmed this independently.

In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”. He added, “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”. Trump was injured in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on 13 July.

The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris had been briefed about the incident and were relieved to know that Trump is safe. “Violence has no place in America,” Harris said in a social media post. Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz issued a statement, posting on X: “Gwen and I are glad to hear that Donald Trump is safe. Violence has no place in our country. It’s not who we are as a nation.”

Trump’s running mate in the presidential election, US senator JD Vance, said he spoke to Trump after the shooting and that the former president was in good spirits. The South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s top congressional allies, said he had spoken with the former president after the incident and that Trump was in “good spirits” and was “one of the strongest people I’ve ever known”.

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From the moment the secret service engaged the suspect, the apprehension also went like clockwork. As he was being fired upon, the suspect dropped the rifle and fled through the bushes, jumping into a black Nissan that he had presumably left strategically located for a fast getaway. Also remarkably in the circumstances, a passerby saw him flee and had the wits to take a photograph of the vehicle including its license plate.

Such is the power of surveillance technology in Florida that within minutes the number plate was being run through the state’s license plate readers. The escaping suspect was quickly tracked to the I-95 highway and promptly detained at gunpoint.

As William Snyder, sheriff of neighboring Martin county where the arrest was made, noted, the suspect was unarmed and appeared “relatively calm, he was not displaying a lot of emotion”.

The exemplary way in which federal and local law enforcement worked together to prevent what could have been a catastrophic event, followed by the consummate apprehension of the suspect, will take a lot of heat out of the situation as the inevitable blame game gets under way. But that other initial narrative also glares out and will demand answers.

How, after Trump came so close to being shot in Pennsylvania, was it possible for him to be out playing golf in a setting that appears to have been impossible to secure? What is happening in a country with as painful a history of successful assassinations as America’s when it sees a former president targeted not once but twice in such short order?

A beady-eyed Secret Service agent spared the US a potentially unconscionable disaster. Is that security enough?

“The threat level is high,” said the Secret Service spokesperson. “We live in dangerous times.”

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Analysis: ‘a story of two conflicting narratives’

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the initial analysis suggested a story of two conflicting narratives.

The first narrative focused on how exposed Trump was, even after security had been ramped up after the Butler incident, and how easy it appeared to have been for a heavily armed individual to gain entrance to the golf course and hide there engulfed in the bushes.

As Bradshaw put it, had Trump been a sitting president at the time he would never have been allowed by the Secret Service to play golf in such an open environment. But “he is not the sitting president, and so we are limited to what the Secret Service deems possible”.

The second narrative is more positive. Unlike the attempted assassination on Trump in Butler county, in which the Secret Service has faced serious questions about its competence leading to the resignation of its then director, Kimberly Cheatle, Sunday’s incident appears to paint the agency in a much rosier light.

The suspected gunman was spotted by a Secret Service agent who was acting as forward guard, going ahead of Trump by a hole or two to stake out potential threats. Despite the thick greenery flanking the course, the agent caught sight of a rifle barrel peeking through and engaged the suspect, firing four to six rounds of ammunition.

“The Secret Service did exactly what they were supposed to do, and their agent did a fantastic job,” Bradshaw said.

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