Trump Safe after Assassination Attempt at Florida Golf Course
By Staff, Agencies
The FBI said Donald Trump was the target of “what appears to be an attempted assassination” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after the Republican US presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life. The former president said he was safe and well and there appeared to be no injuries.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the US Secret Service agents fired at a man pointing an AK-style rifle with a scope as Trump was on the course. Bradshaw said the gunman also had two backpacks hanging on a fence and a GoPro camera, and that he was about 400 to 500 yards [365 to 460 meters] away from Trump and hiding in shrubbery while the former president played golf on a nearby hole.
The person dropped the weapon and fled in an SUV after the shots were fired at him, and he was later taken into custody in a neighboring county.
The incident was the latest jarring moment in a campaign year marked by unprecedented upheaval. It occurred roughly two months after Trump was shot during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear. Eight days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, giving way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the party’s nominee.
And it spawned new questions about Secret Service protective operations after the agency’s admitted failures in preventing the attempted assassination of Trump this summer.
In an email to supporters Sunday, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!” the former president said.
He returned to Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach where he lives, according to a person familiar with Trump’s movements who was not authorized to discuss them publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
It was not immediately clear whether the development would affect his campaign schedule. Trump was set to speak from Florida about cryptocurrency live on Monday night on the social media site X. He planned a town hall Tuesday in Flint, Michigan, followed by a rally Wednesday on New York’s Long Island.
At the end of the week, he’s scheduled to attend and address the Israeli-American Council National Summit in Washington, DC and on Saturday hold a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.
An email to Trump campaign staffers obtained by AP said, “This is not a matter that we take lightly. Your safety is always our top priority. We ask that you remain vigilant in your daily comings and goings.”
“As we enter the last 50 days of President Trump’s campaign, we must remember that we will only be able save America from those who seek to destroy it by working together as one team.”
Biden and Harris were briefed and were being updated on the investigation. Harris, in a statement, said “violence has no place in America.”
Biden echoed that thought in his own statement and added that he had directed his team to ensure the Secret Service “has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.” “We remind our Islamic nation of the religious duty to support the Palestinian people,” he concluded.
