How did a second shooter get within killing range of Trump?

J

ust 67 days after Thomas Matthew Crooks came close to killing Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, another wannabe assassin tried his luck. As Trump was golfing on Sunday at his resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, with Steve Witkoff, a real estate mogul, friend, and donor, a Secret Service agent spotted the suspect with an AK-47-style rifle poking through the golf course fence, about 300 to 500 yards from the former president. The agent immediately fired and the failed shooter fled the scene. Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested a short time later. Trump was unharmed.

Law enforcement agents later found two backpacks in the bushes with ceramic tiles and a GoPro camera; the latter indicating intent to film what was going on.

Routh is an avid Ukraine supporter and visited Kyiv in 2022, which has been pounced on by pro-Russian channels. Routh was active on social media, and had even been interviewed by the New York Times in March 2023 about his support for Ukraine. No motive has been confirmed, though Routh’s Ukraine links could have spurred him to go after Trump, whose support for that beleaguered country has been lukewarm at best.

Both Biden and Harris condemned the violence, but that hasn’t stopped the political point-scoring, with outraged Republicans accusing the Democrats of fueling the sentiment behind the attack by presenting Trump as a threat to democracy who must be stopped. There’s also a sense of déjà vu — how was such a security breach allowed?

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw admitted that as Trump is not the sitting president, security is not as tight. Had he been the incumbent, the entire golf course would have been surrounded. But as a former president and nominee, the Secret Service were only present in locations where they deemed an attack possible. GOP figures are calling for an increase in Secret Service resources to allow for full protection for candidates.

Trump himself did not seem too shaken, according to Fox host Sean Hannity, who spoke to the GOP nominee after the incident, and even joked that he wanted to finish his game of golf. His campaign issued messages like “my resolve is stronger after another attempt on my life” and “i will never surrender.”

As Routh didn’t manage to get off a shot at Trump, there was no blood-spattered face or raised fist, and so none of notoriety Trump achieved in July.

Still, could this second close call re-galvanize a somewhat-disheartened GOP base after a summer of Harris-mania and Trump’s debate performance, which was widely seen as disappointing, and once again give their candidate an edge? There are six weeks left to tell.

There will also likely be renewed focus on Secret Service protection levels for presidential candidates, with more congressional hearings in the offing. Although Trump was unharmed in this incident, the fact that an armed man was able to penetrate his security perimeter with such little difficulty has raised alarm bells.

In addition, the eclectic background of Routh, the would-be shooter, will generate buzz in the right-wing media sphere for the time being. The quotes he gave to the New York Times portrayed him as an experienced international operator, although nothing else unearthed in his background so far supports that view.

Routh’s son told British media, “He’s my dad, and all he’s had is a couple traffic tickets, as far as I know… I know my dad and love my dad, but that’s nothing like him.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1029)