What do we know about the Trump assassination attempt?

US presidential candidate Trump has once again been targeted for assassination. The Secret Service appears to have intervened at the right time. What do we know about the suspect and the process, and what is the response?

Where were the suspected attackers found?

President Donald Trump was playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon when a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of a hedgerow about a quarter mile from the president.

Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said the officer immediately opened fire, firing four to six shots. The suspect, Ryan R., did not fire his own gun. He then dropped the weapon and ran away. According to police, R. left behind an “SKS-style rifle.” The officer also found two backpacks and a small camera.

How dangerous was the situation?

The FBI is calling it an “attempted assassination.” “It is unclear at this time whether the individual was able to fire a gun at our agent,” a Secret Service official said at a news conference. “However, it is clear that our agent was able to fire at the individual.”

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Lowe later said Trump was “at no point in the direct line of sight of the shooter” while he was planning to attack him.

Was the assassin able to escape?

The attacker initially escaped in a car, but witnesses helped police catch him. He wrote down the license plate number and gave it to police.

According to the Martin County Sheriff, a vehicle carrying a man stopped on the highway about 70 kilometers north of the golf course. The man is believed to be involved in the shooting. The suspect appeared calm and was taken into custody.

How did the court hearing proceed?

At a hearing in Florida federal court on Monday, R. was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with a removed serial number. The first charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, and the second carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Additional charges may apply. He remained calm during the brief hearing, answering only a few questions with a “yes.”

Who is the suspect?

American media reported that 58-year-old R. announced through the online service X that he would travel to Ukraine in March 2022. He was ready to “fight and die.”

AFP interviewed him in 2022, when he was actually in Kiev and taking part in the protests. At the time, R said, “Putin is a terrorist who must be stopped. And we need everyone in the world to stop what he is doing and come here now.” Meanwhile, President Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration for the Russian president and has voiced his opposition to US aid to Ukraine.

The New York Times interviewed R. for an article about how Americans will step up to support Ukraine in 2023. R. said he had traveled to Ukraine after the war began and wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight there. His plan was to relocate Afghans who had fled to Pakistan to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military said R. had never served in the Ukrainian military. There was no cooperation. But over the past two and a half years, R. has regularly contacted the Ukrainian military’s international corps and expressed “ridiculous ideas.” “This can best be described as delusional,” a spokesman told the Associated Press.

The AP also reported that the suspect published a book in 2023 called “The Unwinnable War in Ukraine.” R told Iran, “You are free to kill Trump.” He blamed Trump for storming the Capitol and withdrawing from the international nuclear deal with Iran.

R. wrote that he once voted for Trump and that he was partly responsible for Trump becoming president as a “brainless child.”

How did Trump react?

“There has been a shooting near me, but I want you to hear this before the rumors get out of hand,” Trump wrote in an email to supporters after the assassination attempt. “I am safe and fine.” Nothing will stop him. He “will never surrender.”

He later took to his Truth Social platform to thank the Secret Service and other authorities, who must have all done an incredible job protecting him.

Is there more criticism of the Secret Service?

There was clear criticism of the Secret Service in July, when the first assassination attempt on Trump involved an attacker shooting a Republican in the ear. The Secret Service director at the time, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned and at least five officers were placed on leave.

Questions are still being raised as to why the attacker was able to get back into the former president’s sights. U.S. President Joe Biden has stressed that the Secret Service “needs more help” and that Congress should respond. Reuters reported that Trump will meet with the Secret Service director.

Sheriff Bradshaw, who was in charge, testified to the “fantastic actions” of Trump’s Secret Service agents, and that the suspect did not fire because the Secret Service responded too quickly.

What does the White House say about this incident?

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris called for moderation. “I condemn political violence, and we all must do our part to prevent this incident from leading to more violence,” she said in a statement from the White House in Washington. She said she was deeply shocked by the incident and was glad Trump was safe.

U.S. President Joe Biden also expressed relief that Trump was safe. “The investigation into this incident is ongoing as law enforcement gathers additional details about the incident,” he said.

What were the other reactions?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also wrote on Platform X, “I am glad to hear that Donald Trump is safe and sound.”

Elon Musk, an American billionaire and Trump supporter, has caused controversy. Musk wrote on his online service X that “no one is trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala” after the Florida incident. He later deleted the post and wrote that he had learned his lesson. “Just because I told a group and they laughed doesn’t mean it was as funny as what was posted on X,” he explained.

What is still unclear?

The FBI has launched an investigation. It is still unclear whether R’s comments about the war in Ukraine were related to the assassination attempt.

As a presidential candidate, Trump does not have a public schedule like current President Joe Biden, so it is unclear how the suspect knew Trump would be at his golf club that day. That day, he was playing golf with Steve Witkoff, an American real estate investor and party donor.

But American journalists pointed out that residents could not have missed it when President Trump drove his motorcade from his Mar-a-Lago estate, just a few kilometers away, to West Palm Beach.