by Mick the Ram

After earlier reports that gunshots at Donald Trump’s golf club on Sunday afternoon were nothing for the former president to be concerned about, just a couple of hours later it emerged that they were fired in response to an agent spotting a would-be assassin in position ahead of Mr Trump on the course.

It seems that a Secret Service agent had spotted the barrel of an AK-47-style weapon poking out of bushes on the golf course, about a hole ahead of where Mr Trump was playing which equated to around 300-500 yards (275 to 455m).

The agent opened fire, but the target fled leaving behind the firearm and scope, along with two backpacks and a GoPro camera.

A witness saw the suspect leaving in a vehicle and was able to pass a description onto the police who apprehended him a short time later and took him into custody.

It is being widely reported that he is being named as Ryan Wesley Routh, a man in his late 50’s, although that information remains unofficial.

Praise for Secret Service

At a press briefing some time after the arrest, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County praised the work of the Secret Service agent on the course, remarking that he “did a fantastic job”.

He explained: “They have an agent that jumps one hole ahead to where the president was at and he was able to spot this rifle barrel sticking out of the fence and immediately engage that individual, at which time the individual took off.”

Witness makes arrest easy

He then went on to describe how an eyewitness was able to provide a description of the man after seeing him emerge from the bushes and not only saw him jump into a black Nissan vehicle, but he was also able to take a photograph of its number plate, which was put through a real-time crime centre.

Very soon afterwards the vehicle was located on nearby Interstate 95, headed towards Martin County, Florida. Officers in Martin County were alerted and pulled the vehicle over to detain the suspect and later the witness was able to identify the driver as the same man he saw at the scene of the incident.

Golf courses very hard to patrol

Sheriff Bradshaw confirmed that they were holding a man in custody, although he did not name the suspect. He pointed out that, if Donald Trump were the sitting president, officials would have had the entire golf course surrounded.

However, because he is not, then the security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.

The Secret Service has long been concerned about Trump’s vulnerability on his golf courses, which remain open to parts of the public and are often near heavily trafficked areas.

Likely to step up protection

Nevertheless, Sheriff Bradshaw added that the next time Mr Trump plays a round “I would imagine there will probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter.”

He was keen to highlight what a good job the Secret Service did, after the organisation came in for criticism after the shooting incident in July, when Mr Trump was shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania.

He said: “They did exactly what they should have done and provided exactly what the protection should have been.”

Warrants for detention

The State Attorney for Palm Beach County David Aronberg said prosecutors were working on warrants and a motion for the suspect’s pretrial detention.

“Nothing will slow me down”

The Trump campaign released a personal statement from the former president following the incident which quoted Mr Trump: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumours start spiralling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”

Then in typical Trump fashion he added: “Nothing will slow me down; I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me.”

The former president was golfing at his International Golf Club with Steve Witkoff, a close friend and adviser, together with several other close acquaintances.

He apparently even joked that he wished he could have finished his golf game, after he was hurriedly taken from the course.  

Reaction from White House

The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris had been briefed about the incident, with Ms Harris posting a message saying she was “glad” Trump was unharmed and added that “Violence has no place in America”.