What we know about the possible assassination attempt on Donald Trump

The FBI has announced the arrest of a suspect who allegedly targeted the Republican presidential candidate at his golf course in Florida on Sunday.

He is targeted for the second time in just over two months. Donald Trump, Republican candidate for the American presidential election, was the target, on Sunday, September 15, of a second “alleged assassination attempt”in the words of the FBI.

An investigation has been opened into the events, which occurred while the former US president was on the course of his golf club in Florida. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about the circumstances of the shootings “near” of the candidate, which come in a particularly tense presidential campaign, around fifty days before the November 5 election.

‘Gunshots’ fired near Donald Trump at his Florida residence

Donald Trump was on the course of his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, not far from his Mar-a-Lago residence, when shots were heard. “shortly before 2 p.m.” local time (8 p.m. in Paris), according to the Secret Service. This elite police service responsible for protecting presidents, former presidents and leading political figures has announced the opening of an investigation. Several Secret Service agents have “opened fire on an armed man” who was near the edge of the field, after spotting the barrel of a gun hidden in the bushes.

The suspect then fled in a black car, but a witness noted the license plate, which allowed police to identify the vehicle. After a chase, authorities found him and were able to arrest him. “We have a person in custody who is a potential suspect”the Palm Beach County sheriff confirmed. “In the bushes where this individual was, there was an AK-47 rifle with a scope, two backpacks hanging from the fence containing ceramic plates, as well as a GoPro that he was going to use to take photos,” Ric Bradshaw said. “We are not sure that the individual managed to open fire on our agents”added a Secret Service representative.

Republican candidate “safe and sound”

Steven Cheung, communications director for Donald Trump’s campaign, quickly issued a statement to respond to the events. The former president and Republican candidate is “safe and sound after gunshots [tirés] near him”, he announced in a short, two-line message published early this afternoon. “Don’t worry, I’m safe and I’m fine. No one was hurt. Thank God.”the 78-year-old billionaire and Republican tribune later declared, according to messages sent to the press by his teams.

Donald Trump himself gave his news in an email sent to his supporters: “I am safe and healthy! (…) I will NEVER surrender! I will always love you for your support.”

Arrested man sentenced several times

The 58-year-old man arrested is named Ryan Wesley Routh and is a construction worker. He had clearly expressed his support for Ukraine on social media after the Russian invasion. “I AM READY TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER, FIGHT AND DIE… Can I be the example that we must win?”he wrote in a message on Twitter (since renamed X), in March 2022.

AFP interviewed him in kyiv at the end of April 2022, while he was taking part in a demonstration in support of Ukrainians trapped in the port city of Mariupol. “[Vladimir] Putin is a terrorist and he needs to be stopped. So we need everyone, all over the world, to stop what they are doing and come here now.”he told the French press agency at the time.

Ryan Wesley Routh has a criminal record spanning several decades. He was arrested in 2002 after barricading himself in a store with a weapon, CNN reports. The 50-year-old regularly posts reactions to politics and current events online, sometimes criticizing Donald Trump, according to American networks CNN and CBS. Very active on social networks, in 2020, he addressed Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, calling him a “very smart and educated”and opponents of Hong Kong’s leadership during anti-administration protests, according to The Worldwho re-uploaded his thread to the X network shortly before it was suspended on Sunday evening.

The Democratic camp condemns “political violence”

The current US president, Democrat Joe Biden, said “relieved” that his rival has not “not been touched” and praised the “work of Secret Service and federal law enforcement partners”In a statement from the White House, the outgoing president reaffirmed that there was no “no place for political violence or any form of violence in our country”.

Donald Trump’s presidential rival, Kamala Harris, said in a tweet that the violence had not “no place in America.”