The man accused of attempting to assassinate former president Donald Trump reportedly waited for 12 hours, hidden in bushes before he was finally spotted by a US Secret Service agent.
The suspect, identified on Monday as Ryan Routh, 58, has faced a federal court on two gun-related crimes, a day after being spotted with a rifle hiding in the bushes at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Chilling details emerge about second Trump assassination attempt.
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Routh is expected to have more charges filed against him. But the possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, will allow authorities to keep him in custody.
The incident raised fresh questions about how an armed suspect was able to get so close to the Republican nominee, just two months after another gunman fired at Trump during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear with a bullet.
Trump was unharmed in the incident.
On Tuesday, former FBI agent Mike Harrigan joined Nat Barr and Shirvo on Sunrise, where he was questioned about the incident.
“If you look at the layout of the Trump International golf course, there are major roads that run right along the outside of the course … so, it is pretty easy for someone to walk up there,” Harrigan said.
“They say it could have been 12 hours before, he could have crawled up into the bushes there … it appears he had food and he could have just been waiting for the chance that the former president could have been playing golf that day.”
Harrigan said the suspected attempt on Trump’s life would mean changes for his security.
“For future event, they are going to have to sweep those areas,” he said.
“(For the golf course) being a major road, it wouldn’t be that difficult to position a couple of officers in a point where they can see along that road to make sure there is nobody there and to walk that area.
“He may have to, in the short-term, make some changes to when he is outside, when he is golfing, along with increased Secret Service protection when he is outside.”
Phone records suggest the suspect may have been lying in wait for nearly 12 hours on Sunday, according to a criminal complaint.
Records show a phone associated with Routh was located at the golf course starting at 1.59am local time on Sunday morning.
A US Secret Service agent opened fire after they saw a rifle barrel poking out of the bushes on Sunday at Trump’s golf course, a few hundred yards away from where the former president was playing.
The gunman fled in an SUV, according to the complaint. Officers found a loaded assault-style rifle with a scope, a digital camera and a plastic bag of food left behind.
Routh was arrested about 40 minutes later driving north on Interstate 95.
When asked if he knew why he had been stopped, Routh “responded in the affirmative,” according to the complaint. The licence plate on his vehicle had been reported stolen from another car.
Routh has two prior convictions, both in North Carolina, according to the criminal complaint: a 2002 conviction for possession of a weapon of mass death and destruction and a 2010 conviction for possession of stolen goods.
Trump blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris for the assassination attempt.
He cited their “rhetoric” and claimed the suspected gunman was acting on Democrats’ “highly inflammatory language,” though authorities have not yet offered evidence of any motive.
“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out,” he said, according to Fox.
The Secret Service, which protects US presidents, presidential candidates and other high-level dignitaries, has been under intense scrutiny since the earlier attempt on Trump’s life.
Routh was a staunch supporter of Ukraine and had travelled there after Russia’s 2022 invasion, seeking to recruit foreign fighters.
Profiles on X, Facebook and LinkedIn with Routh’s name contained messages of support for Ukraine as well as statements describing Trump as a threat to US democracy.
“@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trump’s should be MASA … make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose,” read a post on X, tagging Biden.
— With AAP
