Welcome and opening summary …
-
Questions will be asked again about the security arrangements around Donald Trump after it appeared he was the victim of a second assassination bid in the space of two months
-
Security forces apprehended a suspect after a gun barrel was spotted in the bushes of Trump International golf course in West Palm Beach ahead of where the former president was playing. The suspect had fled after security forces opened fire. An AK-47 style assault rifle and scope were recovered from the scene. The FBI called the incident “what appears to be an attempted assassination of the former president”
-
In a late night post on his Truth Social account, Trump thanked the secret service and other law enforcement for their “incredible job” of keeping him safe. After stating that it had been an “interesting day”, Trump went on to further commend law enforcement officials: “THE JOB DONE WAS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
-
Trump’s running mate in the presidential election, US senator JD Vance, said he spoke to Trump after the shooting and that the former president was in good spirits
-
Palm Beach county sheriff, Ric Bradshaw told reporters a witness took photographs of the suspect and the vehicle he drove off in, and a person was later stopped and detained on Interstate 95 by deputies in Martin county, immediately north of Palm Beach county
-
A source with direct knowledge of the investigation has told the Guardian the suspected gunman is 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, a vocal supporter of Ukraine’s war efforts, who had contacted Ukraine’s military in an attempt to supply foreign mercenaries for their cause in what an official from Ukraine’s foreign legion described as “delusional ideas”. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he is glad that Trump is “safe and unharmed”
-
Trump campaign co-managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles have described the suspected gunman as “an evil monster”
-
Joe Biden released a statement on Sunday evening, expressing concern about the incident, saying “I have been briefed by my team regarding what federal law enforcement is investigating as a possible assassination attempt of former president Trump today. A suspect is in custody, and I commend the work of the secret service and their law enforcement partners for their vigilance and their efforts to keep the former president and those around him safe. I am relieved that the former president is unharmed. As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country”
Key events
More pictures have emerged of the suspected gunman Ryan Wesley Routh during his visit to Kyiv during 2022, where he was campaigning to increase support for Ukraine’s war effort against Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.
The UK prime minister, who was recently in Washington to meet president Joe Biden, has said he was “very worried” about the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump in West Palm Beach yesterday afternoon.
Speaking to the media during a visit to Rome, Keir Starmer added:
Obviously, there’s now an investigation going on so I won’t say much more about the details, but I think it is really important that we’re all very, very clear that violence has no part to play at all in any political process. So, deeply troubled. Let the investigation take its place. But absolute clarity: violence, no place in political discussion at all, anywhere.
Although the suspected gunman Ryan Wesley Routh was much farther away from the former president, from his vantage point at the golf course, than the man who shot Trump in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July, law enforcement officials found a scope on the gun with the belongings abandoned at the fence when the man fled that would have brought Trump well within range.
Routh was described in various reports as a construction worker previously working in North Carolina. He was strong opponent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine who had tried to recruit overseas volunteers to fight for Ukraine.
Martin county sheriff, William Snyder, said that the suspect did not display much emotion when police apprehended him as he was driving away from the scene.
“He never asked, ‘What is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it,” AP reports Snyder said.
Earlier an official from Ukraine’s foreign legion described suspected gunman’s Ryan Wesley Routh approaches to them as “delusional ideas”.
A spokesperson for the Ukraine’s International Legion of foreign volunteers has confirmed to Reuters it had no formal links with Routh. They said “We would like to clarify that Ryan Wesley Routh has never been part of, associated with, or linked to the International Legion in any capacity. Any claims or suggestions indicating otherwise are entirely inaccurate.”
Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has suggested that what appears to have been an assassination attempt against Donald Trump by a vocal supporter of Ukraine’s cause shows “playing with fire has its consequences”.
Asked what he thought about the events on Sunday afternoon, Peskov said “It is not us who should be thinking, it is the US intelligence services who should be thinking. In any case, playing with fire has its consequences.”
The suspect arrested, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, had visited Ukraine since the war began attempting to drum up support from the west.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier said he was glad that Trump remained “safe and unharmed.”
Putin’s Russia mounted a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, having unilaterally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, in a move widely recognised by the international community as illegal.
This map shows where the attempted assassination bid occurred, at Trump International Golf Club, and its proximity to I-95, where the suspect was apprehended.
If you missed it, here is some video of the press conference given by Palm Beach county sheriff Ric Bradshaw said a man was taken into custody after an apparent attempted assassination attempt of Donald Trump at his Florida golf course. Bradshaw said a man was about 400 to 500 yards away from Trump and hidden in shrubbery – while the former president played golf on a nearby hole – and had an AK-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks hanging on a fence and a GoPro camera.
The suspect has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, aged 58, a source with direct knowledge of the investigation has told the Guardian. The same name was reported by other US media outlets including the Associated Press, Fox news and CNN. Law enforcement officials have not officially named a suspect or given any immediate indication of a motive.
This screengrab shows Ryan Wesley Routh speaking during an interview at a rally in central Kyiv on 27 April 2022. Photograph: AFPTV/AFP/Getty Images
Secret service and homeland security agents searched a former home of the suspect. The Guardian’s Ramon Antonio Vargas has spoken to the suspect’s son Oran.
Welcome and opening summary …
-
Questions will be asked again about the security arrangements around Donald Trump after it appeared he was the victim of a second assassination bid in the space of two months
-
Security forces apprehended a suspect after a gun barrel was spotted in the bushes of Trump International golf course in West Palm Beach ahead of where the former president was playing. The suspect had fled after security forces opened fire. An AK-47 style assault rifle and scope were recovered from the scene. The FBI called the incident “what appears to be an attempted assassination of the former president”
-
In a late night post on his Truth Social account, Trump thanked the secret service and other law enforcement for their “incredible job” of keeping him safe. After stating that it had been an “interesting day”, Trump went on to further commend law enforcement officials: “THE JOB DONE WAS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
-
Trump’s running mate in the presidential election, US senator JD Vance, said he spoke to Trump after the shooting and that the former president was in good spirits
-
Palm Beach county sheriff, Ric Bradshaw told reporters a witness took photographs of the suspect and the vehicle he drove off in, and a person was later stopped and detained on Interstate 95 by deputies in Martin county, immediately north of Palm Beach county
-
A source with direct knowledge of the investigation has told the Guardian the suspected gunman is 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, a vocal supporter of Ukraine’s war efforts, who had contacted Ukraine’s military in an attempt to supply foreign mercenaries for their cause in what an official from Ukraine’s foreign legion described as “delusional ideas”. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he is glad that Trump is “safe and unharmed”
-
Trump campaign co-managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles have described the suspected gunman as “an evil monster”
-
Joe Biden released a statement on Sunday evening, expressing concern about the incident, saying “I have been briefed by my team regarding what federal law enforcement is investigating as a possible assassination attempt of former president Trump today. A suspect is in custody, and I commend the work of the secret service and their law enforcement partners for their vigilance and their efforts to keep the former president and those around him safe. I am relieved that the former president is unharmed. As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country”
