Trump’s last-minute golf

0:34Bodycam footage shows arrest of suspected Trump gunman

At 13:31 EDT (17:31 GMT), the ex-president was on the fifth fairway, close to Palm Beach International Airport, where a member of his security detail noticed a rifle sticking out of the trees by the sixth hole.

Trump reported on Monday night that he heard “probably four or five” shots go off in the nearby vicinity. He was evacuated unharmed.

When Trump and his close friend, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, arrived on the Trump International Golf Club course in West Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon, it was hot and overcast.

It was a hot and cloudy Sunday afternoon when Trump and his close friend, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, arrived on the Trump International Golf Club course in West Palm Beach.

A quick-thinking Secret Service agent had opened fire in the direction of the suspect, who was about 300-500 yards away and did not have a clear line of sight to Trump, federal investigators said.

The Republican presidential candidate’s most recent publicly announced campaign event took place on Saturday night in Utah, across the nation.

When not on the campaign trail, locals claim that Trump spends practically every Sunday at the West Palm Beach golf club.

The former president was “not even really supposed to go there,” according to Secret Service director Ronald Rowe, who stated on Monday. As a result, agents had to quickly assemble a security strategy.

He had been lurking there on the public side of a fence since 01:59 local time on Sunday morning, according to mobile phone records cited by federal officials.

Two digital cameras, a black plastic food bag, an SKS-style semi-automatic rifle (which has a range of almost 440 yards), and a scope to enlarge the lens of the rifle were all found on the suspect.

“An agent who did a fantastic job accompanying me got us into the carts, and we moved along pretty, pretty well.”

Investigators say the gunman used the tall palm trees and well-maintained shrubbery that surround the perimeter of the 27-hole course as cover. No shots were fired by the gunman.

He had been hiding there on the public side of a fence since Sunday morning at 01:59 local time, according to federal officials’ citation of cell phone records.

The foiled plot has left Trump’s neighbours in Palm Beach with pressing questions.

Did the suspect know the former president would be coming to play golf, or was it a guess?

According to Trump on Monday night, a civilian woman was able to snap a photo of his license plate and provide it to the authorities.

The gunman fled in a black Nissan, leaving behind his gun and a bag of supplies.

A civilian woman was able to take a picture of his license plate and pass it to investigators, Trump said on Monday night.

The gunman abandoned his bag containing supplies and his gun and drove off in a black Nissan.

In the bodycam footage, he looked calm as the officers yelled at him to step aside and successfully placed handcuffs on him.

Wearing a blue prison jumpsuit and grinning as he spoke with his lawyer, the suspect, Ryan Routh, 58, made his court appearance on Monday in a packed Palm Beach courtroom.

One count of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of having a firearm with its serial number obliterated were brought against him. More charges could follow.

The FBI had been made aware of Routh’s criminal history in 2019 when she was found to be a felon in possession of a firearm and lived in Hawaii.

The bureau tipped off law enforcement in Honolulu at the time.

While his motive for allegedly planning to target Trump has not been revealed, the suspect had said in the past on social media that he voted for the Republican in 2016 before souring on him.

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On the perimeter of Trump’s golf course on Monday, bright orange cones, barricades, police cars, and officers shielded all corners of the club.

The incident has shocked West Palm Beach and neighbouring towns.

Shelby Stevens, a 52-year-old Trump supporter from West Palm Beach, told the BBC: “No matter how much security you have and everything else, if someone is willing to give their life to take someone else’s, it can happen.”

Cosme Blanco has lived just a few blocks away from the course for most of his life, where he said Trump comes as often as twice a week when he’s not campaigning.

The 61-year-old Trump supporter said the security presence around the golf club is typically not overwhelming. But all that changed on Sunday, when Blanco ran outside five minutes after shots were fired to see helicopters circling the neighbourhood.

“I was concerned. I’m going to be 62 years old and I’ve never seen America change this much,” said the Cuban immigrant.

Blanco said it would not be hard for a suspect to target Trump at his golf course.

The former president travelled there in a motorcade that would have taken about 12 minutes to go from Mar-a-Lago across a bridge overlooking the Lake Worth Lagoon.

Shelby Stevens, a Trump supporter, was shocked by the

But Anka Palitz, a Palm Beach resident who says she has known Trump personally for years, said Routh’s timing was suspicious.

“He doesn’t play golf every Sunday,” she said. “I think there’s a conspiracy.”

“How was he [the gunman] not seen?” she added.

Palitz, who said she used to go skiing with Trump’s ex-wife, Ivana, said she believed someone must have alerted the suspect that the former president was going to the course that day.

Patricia Pelham, a United Kingdom native who has been living in Florida for 30 years, wondered where the suspect was able to park his car close enough to quickly make a getaway.

“How come there’s not security around the outside?” asked the Briton, who added that she was no supporter of Trump.

Pelham said security measures have increased around Mar-a-Lago on the island of Palm Beach since Trump was injured

when a 20-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.

On Monday, police cars lined the roads of the island nearly every half mile, with the 17-acre resort blocked off to visitors.

Authorities have said that the entire golf course would have been surrounded had it been a sitting president of the United States on the green.

After blaming White House rhetoric for the latest alleged attempt to kill him, Trump said on Monday night that he had had a “very nice call” with President Joe Biden about boosting Secret Service protection.

help.President Biden, a Democrat, asked Congress on Monday to approve more money for the agency in the coming weeks, saying the Secret Service “needs more help.”. —

Michael Matranga, a former Secret Service agent who worked for former President Barack Obama, said Trump has had better security than many other former presidents, who typically receive less protection than White House incumbents.

For example, he said, former presidents aren’t typically offered counter-sniper teams like Trump.

The Secret Service has faced intense scrutiny since the first attempt on Trump’s life, with the leader of the agency, Kimberly Cheatle, resigning less than two weeks after the rally.

Agency officials have said the Secret Service is short on resources.

But even with the extra resources, Matranga said agents are forced to contend with a delicate balance of protecting Trump while allowing him to engage with constituents on the campaign trail and “enjoy a round of golf”.

They can’t just “keep him in a bullet proof box”, Matranga said.

Nor does Trump seem to want to be put in one.

In a fundraising email sent on Monday afternoon, he told his supporters: “My resolve is only stronger after another attempt on my life!”

It’s the kind of “tough” attitude that Stevens expects Trump to maintain as he continues to court voters in the weeks leading up to November’s general election.

“The way I see him, he’s not going to want the American people to know that he’d be afraid of going out,” Stevens said.

“I think he’ll still make a presence, not just here but everywhere. I don’t think that’s something he’s going to be shying away from.”