Donald Trump’s Attempted Assassin Stalked Golf Course for 12 Hours: Report

The suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on Sunday camped outside the Florida golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, according to court records.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was detained Sunday after he allegedly fired a rifle from the bushes surrounding the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Routh was later charged with possession of a firearm while a former felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Trump was unharmed in the attempted attack, and he returned to his home at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach afterward. It is the second assassination attempt on Trump, the Republican nominee for president, in a period of about two months.
“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign communications director, said in a statement emailed to Newsweek on Sunday afternoon.
More details of Sunday’s shooting have emerged as Routh appeared in federal court in Florida for his first appearance on Monday. Court records revealed that Routh camped outside for nearly 12 hours before a Secret Service agent thwarted the potential attack and opened fire.
According to an FBI affidavit that cites cellphone data, there was a level of planning involved as Routh is believed to have been positioned at the tree line of the golf course from about 1:59 a.m. to 1:31 p.m. Sunday. A digital camera, a loaded AK-47 rifle with scope, and a plastic bag containing food were recovered from the area where Routh had been standing.
West Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference on Sunday that a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a rifle sticking out of the fence of the golf course and “engaged” with the suspect. The gunman may have got to within 300 yards of Trump, law enforcement said at the conference.
According to law enforcement officials who spoke with the Associated Press, the suspect then dropped the weapon and fled the scene in an SUV but was later apprehended in a nearby county, the officials said.
That is when officials recovered the AK-47, a GoPro camera and a backpack that were found in the bushes near where agents saw Routh.
Newsweek has reached out to the FBI via email for comment.
In an emailed statement to Newsweek on Sunday evening, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wrote: “The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
As an investigation continues, the motive for the incident has not been announced yet. However, more details surrounding Ruth, who arrived shackled at the arms and legs in a prison uniform at the Paul G. Rogers Federal Courthouse in West Palm Beach on Monday, have been revealed.
Routh’s political views and writings have raised alarms. In his 2023 book, Ukraine’s Unwinnable War, he labeled Trump a “fool” and “buffoon” and blamed him for the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots and the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
The apparent assassination attempt comes after the former president had returned to Florida this weekend after hosting a string of campaign events on the West Coast.
Meanwhile, Routh remains in custody as prosecutors argued that he was a flight risk.
Update 9/16/24, 2:11 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.