At approximately 1:30 pm this afternoon a call came to Palm Beach County Sherriff officials that shots had been fired at Trump’s Palm Beach golf club where President Trump was enjoying a typical Sunday golf game. Trump was at the 5th hole when shots rang out ahead. Secret Service agents were one hole ahead of Trump on the golf course, spotted the shooter’s rifle barrel sticking out of the fence so he immediately engaged with gunfire.
A witness came forward and said he saw someone jump out of the bushes and get into a black Nissan SUV. The witness was able to snap a picture of the car and tags, which authorities real time crime center sent out to the many plate readers on Florida’s highways. Law enforcement units also immediately sealed off the area.
A plate reader spotted the vehicle on I-95 as it was entering Martin County, and notified sheriffs in the area. Upon securing the suspect, the witness was flown to the scene where he identified the suspect as the man he saw fleeing the scene of the shooting.
Left behind in the bushes where the suspect had been hiding were an AK-47 style weapon, two back packs hanging on the fence which contained ceramic tiles, and a GoPro camera set up.
The suspect is identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, a native of Greensboro, NC, but currently living in Kawaawa, Hawaii. According to screen shots from his Facebook page, which has since been taken down, he is an avid supporter of Ukraine and was actively working to recruit soldiers to fight in the war against Russia.
Although he voted for President Trump in 2016, Routh is a registered Democrat and has contributed to ActBlue 19 times since 2019.
According to Agent Jeffrey Veltre of the Miami FBI field office, the FBI has assumed the role as the lead federal law enforcement agency investigating this latest attempt on Donald Trump’s life. Several resources have been deployed including bomb technicians, investigative teams, crisis response, and evidence response teams. They ask that the public avoid the area at this time. They also ask that if the public have any information or tips to call 800-CALL FBI or email Tips@tips.fbi.gov.
State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Dave Ehrenberg said that warrants and a pretrial detention motion to keep Routh in custody were being secured but that any pending local charges do no preclude any federal charges that may also be rendered as a result of the incident.
Routh is the owner of Camp Box Engineering in Honolulu, Hawaii, which creates Auxiliary Dwelling Units (ADU’s) for various uses around the world.
Here is his entire X feed, which is reportedly filled with NATO and State Department information.
He also has a wrap sheet with arrests for weapons charges, mass destruction and explosives.
He also has a history of recruiting people for open violence.
More to come as it is made available.
