Two months after the Secret Service faced widespread blame for its failure to stop an assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, the agency demonstrated alertness in forestalling a second shooting attempt in Florida Sunday afternoon.
While the Republican presidential nominee was out golfing at his club in West Palm Beach, Secret Service agents a few holes ahead of him noticed the muzzle of a rifle poking through the fence. They fired at the gunman, who fled the scene in a vehicle.
He left the AK-style rifle behind, along with a scope and a Go-Pro camera, according to The Associated Press. Local law enforcement were able to apprehend him within minutes of being alerted by the Secret Service, FBI, and Palm Beach County sheriff’s office.
Why We Wrote This
Congress is already digging into a July 13 assassination attempt against Donald Trump. A new attempt on Sept. 15 adds impetus – and evidence – for evaluating how well the Secret Service is handling rising threats of political violence.
Citing an anonymous source, the AP identified the suspected would-be shooter as Ryan Wesley Routh. A man by the same name was convicted in 2002 for possession of a “weapon of mass destruction” – a fully automatic machine gun, the wire service reported, citing a 2002 news report regarding the weapon.
Ryan Wesley Routh: interested in Ukraine
A resident of North Carolina and then, since 2018, Hawaii, Mr. Routh had expressed support for Mr. Trump on social media but later seemed to grow disaffected. In recent years, he expressed support for Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris, according to the AP. Mr. Routh also grew keenly interested in the defense of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
At the time of the Sunday incident, Mr. Routh was hidden in some shrubbery about 400 yards away from the president – well within range to fire accurately with a scope. His aborted attempt, though not successful, underscored longstanding Secret Service concerns about the security challenges posed by golf courses.
While it is unclear whether the man actually fired any shots, the FBI said it is investigating the incident as an assassination attempt. The leaders of a bipartisan congressional task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt against Mr. Trump, GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania and Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, said they were monitoring the situation and had requested a briefing with the Secret Service.
Leaders condemn political violence
“We are thankful the President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms,” Chair Kelly and Congressman Crow said in a joint statement.
The barely averted violence could ratchet up tensions for both campaigns in the presidential contest, in which polls show Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris virtually tied with less than two months to go.
Mr. Trump, who in last week’s presidential debate had blamed Democrats’ rhetoric for motivating the July shooting, reassured followers in a social media post today that he was safe and well. He added, “I will NEVER SURRENDER!”
His opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, released a statement saying she was “deeply disturbed” by the incident and was thankful that Mr. Trump was safe. “We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,” she said, commending the Secret Service and law enforcement for their vigilance and vowing that the agency would have every resource it needs to carry out its mission.
Investigations of the Secret Service underway
But headed toward an election that both sides have described in apocalyptic terms, each side says the other has primed their supporters for political violence.
In that environment, the ability and preparedness of the Secret Service to do its job has come under fresh scrutiny. The first congressional hearing into the July shooting with the agency’s then-Director Kimberly Cheatle was so disastrous that she resigned the next day, despite having avowed repeatedly that she would not.
As the Monitor reported at the time, a local law enforcement sniper took notice of Thomas Matthew Crooks an hour before he shot at the former president. Yet the Secret Service failed to stop him until he fired – wounding Mr. Trump, who happened to turn his head moments before, in the ear. Early reports blamed the low number of agents deployed (three), the lack of a joint briefing with agents and local law enforcement, siloed communication channels, and a decision not to use aerial surveillance, among other things.
The Secret Service has 8,000 personnel and a $3.1 billion annual budget, and many lawmakers have questions that go beyond why it failed on July 13. A key concern is chronic understaffing. The number of employees assigned to protect senior figures has dropped about 10% over the past decade while the number of people it has to protect has increased, NBC reported in July, citing congressional budget numbers.
The agency immediately stepped up its protection of Mr. Trump, whose team was earlier denied assets it had requested – though not on that particular day. He now speaks behind bulletproof glass at rallies.
Congress is digging into what happened at the July rally through a number of investigations, including by the House Oversight committee, which held the hearing with Ms. Cheatle on July 25. The Senate Homeland Security Committee, which held its first – and so far only – hearing on July 30, is also probing the matter, as is the House task force led by Representatives Kelly and Crow, who together with the rest of the committee members were appointed by their parties’ respective leaders.
None of those three bodies have produced a report of their findings. The office of GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a Homeland Security committee member, compiled preliminary findings about the July assassination attempt, and issued a more thorough timeline in late August.
According to that timeline, the first time law enforcement noticed the would-be assassin was an hour and 45 minutes before the shooting.
The Secret Service will still have a lot to answer for as Congress continues its investigations into whether the July shooting revealed systemic problems. But its agents’ quick actions Sunday may earn it some more credibility.