We've learned quite a bit of information about the latest Trump assassination attempt since Sunday — both about the incident itself and the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh.
According to officials from the FBI, Secret Service, and Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, Routh was charged with firearm offenses but not yet with crimes related to the assassination attempt. In 2019, the FBI received a tip about Routh illegally possessing a firearm, but authorities didn't take action after the tip was deemed unverified.
Routh is a convicted felon with an extensive rap sheet that includes a 2002 conviction for possessing a weapon of mass destruction. I wonder if we'll hear more about that one day. But one thing we do know is that he is a nutcase who the left's rhetoric against Trump radicalized.
Related: FBI Expert Blames Anti-Trump Rhetoric for Assassination Attempt, Warns of More Attempts
U.S. authorities' knowledge of Routh before the assassination attempt isn't the worst detail we've learned. Despite being close to the course, Routh never had a line of sight on Trump and didn’t fire any shots. Authorities tried hard to credit Joe Biden for ensuring that enhanced security measures were in place, but one detail that has come out raises major doubts about that.
According to court papers, Routh, "had been camped out in a wooded area with a loaded SKS-style rifle near the course for 12 hours before he was spotted."
Trump was on the fifth fairway and not in Routh’s line of sight when the agent “engaged” the suspect, said Ronald Rowe, acting director of the Secret Service. Routh also never fired his weapon.
But Routh, 58, was equipped to kill, the criminal complaint said.
In addition to a digital camera and two bags, investigators found a loaded SKS-style 7.62x39 caliber rifle with a scope that had an “obliterated” serial number and a black plastic bag containing food likely to sustain Routh while he waited in the wooded area.
raising new questions about whether the Secret Service was doing enough to protect a politician who had already survived one assassination attempt."
NBC News observed that Routh's presence at the site for so long raises "new questions about whether the Secret Service was doing enough to protect a politician who had already survived one assassination attempt."
You think?
How is it possible that Routh was at the site for so long with a weapon, and the Secret Service never spotted him? According to Monday's press conference from law enforcement officials, the alleged "increased assets directed by... President Biden" included "the counter-sniper team elements, counter-surveillance... agents on the exterior, counter-assault teams partnered with local tactical assets from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, and counter-unmanned aerial system elements."
So they had drones and exterior agents, yet Routh went undetected for 12 hours? How does that work? I'm sorry, but this isn't adding up. On Monday, Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo noted that another former president has better security than Donald Trump.
“We’ve got pictures here of President Obama’s golf course in Martha’s Vineyard. Secret Service inspects every vehicle when they even drive near the course,” she pointed out. "He's not a sitting president, yet the golf course that he's on is incredibly secure."
It's far more secure than Trump's, that's for sure.
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