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Tag: Donald Trump Assassination Attempt

  • Trump Assassination Attempt: 10 Key Details About Florida Golf Club Incident | world news

    Trump Assassination Attempt: This was the second apparent assassination attempt on US former President Donald Trump within two months, the first one at the election rally in Pennsylvania and the second in Florida Golf Club on Sunday afternoon. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was on a golf course when the US Secret Service detected an unusual presence nearby. The FBI has described the incident as an “attempted assassination.”


    The law enforcement officials have arrested a 58-year-old suspect identified as Ryan Wesley Routh. He was allegedly seen behind the bushes, mere 400 to 500 yards away from Trump. When the Secret Service official shot in that direction, he dropped the weapon a high-powered AK-47 style rifle and fled the scene.



    Routh entered a black-colored SUV and drove off only to be arrested later in a neighboring county. According to the police, the suspect had two black backpacks hanging on the fence and a GoPro camera.


    Martin County Sheriff William Snyder reported that the man, after being apprehended, remained remarkably ‘calm’ and showed minimal emotion. “He never inquired, ‘What is this about?’ Despite the presence of law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, and considerable activity, he did not question the situation,” Snyder stated.


    In 2002, Routh was found guilty of having a weapon of mass destruction, according to online records from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. The records don’t explain the case further, but a 2002 News & Record article mentions a man with the same name who was arrested after a three-hour standoff with police.



    Undeterred by the two consecutive near misses, Donald 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”.


    “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER,” he informed his supporters via email and then returned to his residence at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach.


    Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the incident. The White House stated they were “relieved” to learn that Trump is safe. Harris, who is running against Trump in the presidential polls, commented in a statement that “violence has no place in America.”


    The suspect was apprehended following a “be on the lookout” alert issued by the FBI, Secret Service, and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff William Snyder reported that his deputies “immediately flooded” northbound I-95, covering every exit from the Palm Beach County line to the south and the St. Lucie County line to the north. “One of my road patrol units saw the vehicle, matched the tag, and we set up on the vehicle,” Snyder said. “We pinched in on the car, got it safely stopped, and took the driver into custody.”


    On July 13, Donald Trump was shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, with a bullet grazing his ear. Eight days later, President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, clearing the path for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee.


    Since the assassination attempt in July, Donald Trump’s security measures have been significantly increased. When he is at Trump Tower in New York, dump trucks are strategically parked to form a barrier outside the building. At outdoor rallies, he now addresses the crowd from behind bulletproof glass.

  • US Secret Service Director Resigns Days After Assassination Attempt On Ex-President Trump | world news

    Washington: The director of the Secret Service said Tuesday she is resigning following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.

    Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

    “I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in an email to staff, obtained by The Associated Press. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”

    Cheatle’s departure was unlikely to end the scrutiny of the long-troubled agency after the failures of July 13, and it comes at a critical juncture ahead of the Democratic National Convention and a busy presidential campaign season. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have promised continued investigation, along with an inspector general probe and an independent and bipartisan effort launched at President Joe Biden’s behest that will keep the agency in the spotlight.

    “The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases,” Cheatle said in her note to staff.

    Cheatle’s resignation comes a day after appearing before a congressional committee and was berated by hours by both Democrats and Republicans for the security failures. She called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades and said she took full responsibility for the security lapses, but she angered lawmakers by failing to answer specific questions about the investigation.

    At the hearing Monday, Cheatle remained defiant that she was the “right person” to lead the Secret Service, even as she said she took responsibility the security failures. When Republican Rep. Nancy Mace suggested Cheatle begin drafting her resignation letter from the hearing room, Cheatle responded, “No, thank you.”

    The 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to get within 135 meters (157 yards) of the stage where the former president was speaking when he opened fire. That’s despite a threat on Trump’s life from Iran leading to additional security for the former president in the days before the July 13 rally.

    Cheatle acknowledged Monday that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person two to five times before the shooting at the rally. She also revealed that the roof from which Crooks opened fire had been identified as a potential vulnerability days before the rally. But she failed to answer many questions about what happened, including why there no agents stationed on the roof.

    A bloodied Trump was quickly escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents, and agency snipers killed the shooter. Trump said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were critically wounded.

    “The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13th is the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades,” Cheatle told members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. “As the Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse.”

    Details continue to unfold about signs of trouble that day and what role both the Secret Service and local authorities played in security. The agency routinely relies on local law enforcement to secure the perimeter of events where people it is protecting appear. Former top Secret Service agents said the gunman should never have been allowed to gain access to the roof.

    Two days after the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he supported Cheatle “100%.”

    But there were calls for accountability across the political spectrum, with congressional committees immediately moving to investigate, issuing a subpoena to testify and the top Republican leaders from both the House and the Senate saying she should step down. Biden, a Democrat, ordered an independent review into security at the rally, and the Secret Service’s inspector general opened an investigation. The agency is also reviewing its counter sniper team’s “preparedness and operations.”

    In an interview with ABC News two days after the shooting, Cheatle said she wasn’t resigning. She called the shooting “unacceptable” and something that no Secret Service agent wants to happen. She said her agency is responsible for the former president’s protection: “The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service.”

    Cheatle served in the Secret Service for 27 years. She left in 2021 for a job as a security executive at PepsiCo before Biden asked her to return in 2022 to head the agency with a workforce of 7,800 special agents, uniformed officers and other staff.

    She took over amid a controversy over missing text messages from around the time thousands of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, following his 2020 election loss to Biden.

    During her time in the agency, Cheatle was the first woman to be named assistant director of protective operations, the division that provides protection to the president and other dignitaries, where she oversaw a $133.5 million budget. She is the second woman to lead the agency.

    When Biden announced Cheatle’s appointment, he said she had served on his detail when he was vice president and he and his wife “came to trust her judgment and counsel.”