Man detained over apparent attempt on Trump

That’s according to CNN, Ukrinform reports.

A Secret Service agent noticed a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of the fence. According to the agent, the attacker was as close as 300 to 500 yards (270 to 450 meters) to the ex-president. Law enforcers retrieved an AK-47 rifle on the site and the suspect was arrested while fleeing after a witness tipped law enforcers on the tags of the car the culprit was driving.

President Joe Biden commended the work of the Secret Service and law enforcement following the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, saying he was “relieved” to hear that Trump was unharmed.

“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,” Biden wrote in the statement. “As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.”

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris reacted to the incident, saying she was glad Trump was safe.

"I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe," Harris wrote on X. "Violence has no place in America."

As for the attacker, who is now in custody, he is a self-employed affordable-housing builder in Hawaii, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, who posted on social media about politics and current affairs, at times criticizing Trump. 

In 2002, Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested after he was pulled over by police and allegedly put his hand on a firearm and then drove and barricaded himself in a business, CNN learned.

Public records reveal several court cases involving Routh since the 1990s, including over failures to pay taxes on time.

Ryan Wesley Routh, who authorities suspect was planning to attack former President Donald Trump as he played a round of golf, expressed strong support for Ukraine in dozens of posts on X in 2022, saying he was willing to die in the fight and that “we need to burn the Kremlin to the ground.”

Routh then used his personal Facebook account last year to encourage foreigners to fight in the war. He tried to enlist Afghan conscripts in a flurry of posts, beginning in October 2023, presenting himself as an off-the-books liaison for the Ukrainian government. 

Photo: Pool