At the joint press conference of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the authorities cooperating in the investigation, it was announced that the investigation is being led by the FBI, and that several search warrants have already been issued for the former residences of suspect Ryan Wesley Routh.
The FBI official said that so far they have interviewed 7 eyewitnesses, and during the investigation, the man’s family members and friends have been questioned with the involvement of FBI agents from Hawaii.
According to the report, it is an apparent assassination attempt. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was charged for violating federal gun ownership laws on Monday, but the indictment is expected to expand. The man appeared in court for the first time on Monday. According to court documents, Routh’s cell phone data shows Routh was near Donald Trump’s golf course, the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, for 12 hours. He arrived there at 2am on Sunday and left shortly before 2pm when he fled.
Regarding the man’s past, FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri said that he had several conflicts with the authorities in recent decades, and in 2002 he was convicted in North Carolina of possessing a weapon capable of mass destruction. In 2019, the investigating authority received a public report in connection with a crime in Hawaii about the man who was questioned. The FBI agent also confirmed that Ryan Wesley Routh had been active in Ukraine since the outbreak of the war.
According to American media reports, the man made several statements to the press, in 2023, for example, the New York Times wrote about him spending a longer time as a volunteer in Ukraine to help the army, as well as trying to recruit volunteers in the United States, partly Afghans who had fled the Taliban. around. At a press conference held in Florida on Monday, Ronald Rowe, acting director of the Federal Secret Service, expressed his appreciation for the performance of the organization’s agents, which prevented the assassination, as well as for the work of partner authorities. He added that in order to increase the financial resources of the organization, he is in constant contact with members of Congress.
The head of the Secret Service also stated that the level of detention of Donald Trump is now almost the same as when he was president in office, and there is also a significant uniformed presence around the presidential candidate’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
At the press conference, they summarized what happened on Sunday afternoon, and it was revealed that an agent of the secret service securing the golf course noticed the barrel of a rifle protruding through the wire fence from the bushes surrounding the course. When it was discovered, Donald Trump was nowhere in sight, but he was in the vicinity of the golf course. As soon as the Secret Service agent perceived the risk, he immediately took out a gun and fired several shots. The suspect did not open fire, but left all his equipment behind and ran to his car parked nearby and fled, of which a witness took a photo. Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested not long after based on the license plate in the photo. The authorities described the weapon as an SKS model with a telescopic tube, and the investigators also found two backpacks and a sports camera.
Cover image: Police arrest Ryan Wesley Routh in a still from the video (Photo: AFP)
Source: magyarnemzet.hu
