16 Sep 2024
The FBI has launched an investigation into what it describes as an "attempted assassination" of Donald Trump on Sunday after the US Secret Service fired at a gunman at Trump's golf resort in Florida. The suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, was previously interviewed by US media during his time in Ukraine, where he had traveled in 2022 to support the war effort.
Secret Service and Homeland Security agents have since searched Routh's former residence in Greensboro, North Carolina. This incident comes two months after Trump was grazed by a bullet at a rally in Pennsylvania and just weeks before the November 5 presidential election.
"Violence has no place in America": Harris Condemns Assassination Attempt
"I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am relieved he is safe," said Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's election opponent, in a post on X following the assassination attempt.
"Violence has no place in America," she added.
Harris later expressed being "deeply disturbed" by the event, stating, "As we gather the facts, let me be clear: I condemn political violence. We must all work to ensure this incident does not incite further violence."
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris reacts during a presidential debate with Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (Reuters)
Routh was filmed by AP in Kyiv in 2022
In April 2022, the Associated Press captured Ryan Routh at a demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square, two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Routh held a placard reading: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.” He wore a blue vest with an American flag on the back, complemented by a scarf and T-shirt in his national colors, while participating in a small rally.
Other participants displayed posters highlighting Mariupol, which was under siege at that time and is now occupied by Russia. On the same day, Routh also paid tribute to foreign citizens killed in the conflict at a makeshift memorial marked “Foreigners killed by Putin.”
Later on Sunday, Secret Service and Homeland Security agents searched a home in Greensboro, North Carolina, previously identified by a neighbor as belonging to Routh.
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