In the wake of a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in just over two months, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced that the state will conduct its own investigation into the attack.
DeSantis’ promise comes as questions mount about security measures surrounding Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.
On Sunday afternoon, Trump was playing golf at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach when Secret Service agents spotted a man, later identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, with an AK-47-style rifle trying to work through the perimeter bushes.
The armed suspect was positioned just 300 and 500 yards away from the former president.
“The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club,” DeSantis stated on social media platform 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.”
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
According to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Secret Service agents opened fire on Routh, who fled the scene in a Nissan. The suspect was apprehended shortly after on I-95 as he entered Martin County, just north of Palm Beach County. Authorities recovered an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks, and a GoPro camera from the bushes where Routh was initially spotted.
This incident marks the second apparent assassination attempt on Trump since July, when a shooter opened fire at a rally in Pennsylvania, grazing the former president’s ear and killing one spectator.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol will jointly lead the state investigation, running parallel to the ongoing federal investigation by the FBI.
Details emerging about the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, paint a complex picture. Routh reportedly was convicted for possessing a weapon of mass destruction in 2002. He was reportedly a regular Democratic Party donor that repeated Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign rhetoric on social media. He traveled to Ukraine in 2022 to recruit ex-Afghan soldiers to fight against Russian forces, but was asked to leave the country by Ukrainian forces.
Despite this background, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said that Routh was not on law enforcement’s radar.
The incident has prompted swift reactions from political figures.
A bipartisan House task force investigating the July assassination attempt has demanded a briefing with the Secret Service about Sunday’s events.
Reps. Mike Kelly, R-P.A., and Jason Crow, D-Colo., stated, “We are thankful that the former President was not harmed but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms.”
Questions persist about the adequacy of security measures for Trump and his family. The resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle following the July incident highlighted the agency’s struggles to adapt to evolving threats.