Suspect in apparent attempt on Trump's life charged with gun offences

The suspect in an apparent attempt on former US president Donald Trump’s life was charged with two firearms offences, US authorities said on Monday, the German news agency (dpa) reported.

According to allegations in court documents, a US Secret Service agent walking the perimeter of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday afternoon while Trump was playing, “saw what appeared to be a rifle poking out of the tree line.”

After the agent fired a service weapon in the direction of the gun, a witness saw a man later identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh fleeing the area.

Routh escaped in a vehicle and was later apprehended by officers from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

The 58-year-old was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, as well as possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, the Justice Department said in a statement on Monday.

In a press conference on Monday, FBI special agent Jeffrey Veltri said the incident was being investigated “as an apparent assassination attempt of former president Trump.”

Veltri stressed that the investigation is ongoing.

‘No line of sight’

US Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe said the suspect “did not have a line of sight to the former president” and did not fire at Secret Service agents before fleeing the scene.

Rowe said after July 13, when a gunman shot at Trump from a nearby rooftop at a campaign event in Pennsylvania, “the Secret Service moved to increase assets to an already enhanced security posture for the former president.”

“In the days that followed, President Joe Biden made it clear that he wanted the highest levels of protection for former president Trump and for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“The Secret Service moved to sustain increases in assets and the level of protection sought. And those things were in place yesterday,” he added.

In the July 13 incident, Trump was injured by a bullet to his right ear and the perpetrator was shot dead by security forces shortly afterwards.

One man died and two others were injured at the rally.

- Bernama

Second assassination attempt on Trump foiled

Trump 'is fine' after gunshots reported at rally in Pennsylvania

Kennedy suspends White House bid, endorses Trump

Time to cool down rhetoric in US politics, says Biden after attack on Trump