The suspect in the second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life appeared in court on the morning of Monday, Sept. 16. Ryan Routh, 58, is charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
When Routh appeared in court, he “laughed and smiled ahead of his first court appearance,” Fox News reported.
Routh is accused of pointing a rifle, from where he was hiding in shrubbery, at Trump while Trump was engaged in a round of golf at his International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
According to court documents, a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle “poking out of the tree line” along the golf course and “the agent fired his/her service weapon in the direction of the rifle.”
The incident occurred approximately 400 yards from the former president’s location, highlighting potential vulnerabilities even in seemingly secure environments.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced plans to demand increased Secret Service protection for Trump, emphasizing the need for heightened attention to his security.
Routh is no stranger to law enforcement and has a criminal record dating back to 1991, including for writing bad checks and tax delinquencies. In 2002, he was convicted of possessing a fully automatic machine gun in Greensboro, North Carolina. Court filings referred to the weapon as a “weapon of mass destruction.”
This is the second assassination attempt on Trump in two months.
The former president attributed the incident to the rhetoric of his political opponents, claiming that the accused gunman was influenced by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden and Harris swiftly condemned the attack, with Harris stating, “I am glad he is safe.”
