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Second Trump Assassination Attempt Raises Doubts About Secret Service Competence

Posted on by darion

Secret Service foils another assassination attempt on former President Donald TrumpAlthough this incident undoubtedly raises questions about the competence of the government authorities entrusted with ensuring the safety of politicians.

At 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, the former president (and current presidential candidate) was playing golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, when his security guard spotted a rifle in the bushes. The Secret Service opened fire, and the would-be assassin fled. He was later detained and identified as 57-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh.

FBI Investigates ‘Appearing Assassination Attempt Against Former President Trump’ Political. This is, of course, the second attempt on Trump’s life in two months. Unlike the July 13 attack in Butler, Pennsylvania — in which Trump was wounded in the ear and a bystander was killed — no one was hurt at the golf club on Sunday.

The Secret Service was widely criticized for failing to prevent the Butler shooting. In that incident, the shooter was able to attack Trump from a rooftop that was technically outside the Secret Service’s security perimeter but within striking distance of the candidate. The shooter was first spotted by gawkers, and then a local police officer was able to engage him; warnings, however, did not reach Trump’s security in time.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle ultimately resigned due to the agency’s failures.

“A Secret Service investigation has confirmed the security breaches that paved the way for the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and has also revealed new information — including that agents never instructed local police to secure the roof of the building where the shooter was located, according to two senior government officials familiar with the investigation,” reports The Washington Post just last week.

Given the threats to Trump’s life, one might expect him to have extra security while on the course. However, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that the security measures taken were completely satisfactory because Trump is not a “sitting president.”

“At the level he is now, he is not a sitting president,” Bradshaw said at a news conference. “If he were, we would have the entire golf course surrounded. But since he is not, the security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service considers possible. I imagine the next time he comes to the golf course, there will probably be more people around the perimeter, but the Secret Service did exactly what they needed to do.”

If you have doubts about the activities of the Secret Service, this statement may not bring you much comfort.

As for the shooter: Routh has a long history of making political statements about X. He appears to have previously supported Trump before switching to the Democratic side. In a self-published book about the war in Ukraine, he wrote about visiting the country and being disappointed with its chances of defeating Russia. At the time, he worked with the Ukraine International Volunteer Center to recruit U.S.-trained Afghan fighters to join the effort. In the book, he described Trump as an “idiot” and a “fool.”

He has repeatedly posted on X in support of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that “democracy is on the ballot.” In June 2020, he reiterated his past support for Trump, writing, “Even though you were my choice in 2016, I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we were all sorely disappointed and it seems like you are getting worse and regressing. I will be happy when you go.”

Scenes from Washington: Routh apparently visited the nation’s capital last year to represent Ukraine’s interests. New York Times interviewed him while he was in town, and he posted a photo of himself in front of the Capitol on LinkedIn.

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