Ryan Routh never had a line of sight to Donald Trump and didn't fire any shots during Sunday's apparent assassination attempt, acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe confirmed Monday. Rowe praised the "hyper vigilance" of the agent who spotted the rifle barrel in shrubbery at Trump's West Palm Beach golf course and opened fire, the BBC reports. He said the suspect was on the other side of the course's perimeter fence.
- "Security plan worked." Rowe said that Trump "wasn't even really supposed to" go to the golf course and that the Secret Service formed a plan on short notice. "We put together a security plan, and that security plan worked," he said. He commended President Biden for ordering "increased assets" to protect candidates after the July assassination attempt on Trump.
- "We view this as extremely serious." Jeffery Veltri, the special agent in charge of FBI's Miaimi field office, said the incident was "an apparent assassination attempt of former President Trump," the Guardian reports. "We view this as extremely serious and are determined to provide as to what led up to the events that took place," he said. Veltri said there's no indication Routh was acting with anybody else.
- FBI received tip about suspect in 2019. Veltri said Routh was investigated by the FBI in 2019 after the agency received a tip that he was a felon in possession of a firearm, the New York Times reports. He said the agency interviewed the tipster and closed the case after no additional information was received.
- Mar-a-Lago security. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said security at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is now "the highest it could possibly be," the BBC reports. "What we did yesterday proves that the system can work because the suspect didn't even get close to getting a round off and we apprehended him," he said.
- Bodycam footage released. The Martin County Sheriff's Office released bodycam footage Monday of Routh's arrest on Interstate 95 around 45 minutes after the agent fired on him. The short clip shows Routh being taken into custody without incident, NBC News reports.
- "Cordial conversation" between Biden, Trump. White House spokesperson Emilie Simons said Biden and Trump had a "cordial conversation" Monday afternoon. "We had a very nice call. It was about Secret Service protection," Trump said in a statement provided to CNN.
Investigators believe Routh camped at the perimeter of the golf course with food and a rifle
for nearly 12 hours before the agent confronted him. More on the suspect
here. (More
Ryan Routh stories.)
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