Officials from the FBI, the Secret Service, and the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office held a press conference on Monday to share additional details on the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Here's what we learned:
1. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was only booked on firearms charges:
- Possession of a firearm by a prohibited person — convicted felon
- Possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number
Hopefully, as the investigation proceeds, additional charges will be added related to the assassination attempt (but then again, one never can tell with Merrick Garland's politicized DOJ).
2. In 2019, the FBI received a tip stating that Routh, a convicted felon, had a gun but apparently did nothing about it. Jeffrey Veltri, FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Miami field office, said, "He was the subject of a previously closed 2019 tip to the FBI, where it was alleged he was a felon in possession of a firearm, and following up on the tip, the complainant was interviewed and did not verify, I repeat, did not verify, providing the initial information. The FBI passed that information to local law enforcement." (End of story until Routh showed up with a gun at the Trump International Golf Club.)
3. FBI agents attempted to get Routh to talk on Sunday, but he invoked his right to an attorney and refused to speak to law enforcement officials.
4. In 2002, Routh was charged and convicted in North Carolina for possession of a weapon of mass destruction. (A year after 9/11. Nothing to see here.)
5. There were at least seven witnesses at the scene. They have all been interviewed by the FBI, "and that is just the beginning," Veltri said.
6. Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe credited President Biden several times for ordering "the highest levels of protection for former President Trump and for Vice President Harris." He added, "The Secret Service moved to sustain increases in assets and the level of protection, and those things were in place yesterday." (He could have just explained the enhanced security but apparently thought it necessary to kiss up to Biden.)
7. Routh was in the vicinity of the golf course roughly 12 hours before a Secret Service spotted the barrel of his rifle poking out of the shrubbery. According to Rowe, he "was in very close proximity to where he was spotted by the Secret Service" during that 12-hour period. (Where were the advance teams during those 12 hours? The last time I went to CPAC, the woods adjacent to the hotel property were crawling with Secret Service agents hours ahead of Trump's appearance there.)
9. Rowe was concealed on "the public side of the fence near the sixth green" — in other words, he never gained access to the golf course itself.
9. The suspect "did not have a line of sight to the former president" and "did not fire or get off any shots," according to Rowe. In addition, Trump was "several hundred yards and several holes away, out of sight from the gunman." (That contradicts reports that Trump was on the 5th hole and the shooter set up on the 6th.)
10. The "increased assets directed by... President Biden" (here we go again) were in place on Sunday and included "the counter-sniper team elements, counter-surveillance... agents on the exterior, counter-assault teams partnered with local tactical assets from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, and counter-unmanned aerial system elements." (No word on how the drones and exterior teams failed to spot a man with a gun who had set up shop in the shrubs in the 12 hours before Trump arrived at the club.)
PJ Media will continue to bring you updates on the assassination attempt as more details become available.
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