As election day nears, Republican candidate and Former President Donald Trump has faced two assassination attempts. Following a shooting on July 13 during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania that left Trump with a nicked right upper ear, another attempt occurred this past Sunday. While playing on his 27-hole golf course at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, FL, just two months after the Pennsylvania attack, the former president was removed from the course by Secret Service less than 20 seconds after initial gunfire was opened by agents.
Over nearly a century, U.S. Presidents have embraced golf as a favored leisurely pastime. In 1983, while Ronald Reagan was playing at Augusta National Golf Club, a man breached security, driving through a gate and taking hostages, demanding to speak to Reagan. In the aftermath, Reagan exponentially reduced his devotion to golf. During Obama’s terms as President, he frequented a course on a military base near Washington D.C, allowing photographers and reporters little to no access to his time on the course. Similarly, Bush, Clinton, Ford, Eisenhower, and Kennedy were also avid golfers. Just as the Reagan incident advised the Secret Service to reassess security measurements, Sunday’s hindered assassination attempt prompted the establishment to question how to approach safety in the broad, open terrains of a golf course.
Trump’s method of play – both his frequent play and tendency to use his own courses – leaves the Secret Service stumped, as his routine challenges the agency to find a new way of protection for his easily predictable plans during golfing. Some of his courses are at greater risk than others. Trump National Golf Course in Northern Virginia, allows boats sailing down the Potomac a clear view of those who occupy the course. Similarly, his club in West Palm Beach borders busy, public roads and is only 15 minutes away from Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s waterfront residence in Palm Beach.
The assailant in Sunday’s thwarted endeavor, Ryan Wesley Routh, supposedly “camped outside the golf course in West Palm Beach with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours,” according to AP News. Routh is currently facing charges for possession of a firearm, despite a previous felony conviction (subject to 100 criminal counts in North Carolina) and possession of a firearm with an obscured serial number. Routh’s arrest records began in Guilford County, North Carolina in the 1980s and continued until the 2010s. His criminal history ranges from miswritten checks, illegal possession of a firearm and stolen vehicle, and multiple counts of a weapon of mass destruction in 2002. “Routh’s attitude was that he was above everybody. He could do what he wanted,” states Eric Rasecke, a former Greensboro Police officer and veteran, reported by Fox News.
Recently, Routh has advocated on social media in support of Ukraine against Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian War. Video shot by The Associated Press depicted Routh partaking in a small demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square in April 2022. He is seen holding a placard that states “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.” However, Routh does not have a consistent position on political candidates in the United States.
On the day of the incident, the Secret Service spotted a rifle (SKS semi-automatic) protruding from shrubbery lining the golf course around 300-500 yards from where the former president was playing. As Trump was moving through the fifth hole’s fairway, an agent overlooking the upcoming sixth hole’s surrounding turf spotted the assailant, and immediately drew his firearm, firing approximately 4-5 rounds of ammunition combined with another agent. Although Routh did not fire his weapon, he abandoned it and his position when shots were fired. Routh sped away in what was reported a stolen vehicle, before being arrested in Martin County, 38 miles northbound I-95 from Palm Beach. There is an active search court authorized to investigate Routh’s current residence in Kaʻaʻawa, Hawaii. On Monday, Trump posted to Facebook and later Instagram, “I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes,” afterward thanking the Secret Service for their protection. Kamala Harris, his political opponent in the upcoming election, posted to X, “I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.” Devoid of his political differences with Trump as well, Biden urged Congress on Monday to provide the Secret Service with more resources, emphasizing that the agency needs additional help.
