Shooting Near Trump at West Palm Beach Golf Course

[Mick West]

Article:

Donald Trump was rushed to safety by the Secret Service after agents spotted a man with an AK-47 near his golf course and agents opened fire, law enforcement sources said.

The former president was on the links at Trump International Golf Course West Palm Beach at the time, about 2 p.m. on Sunday. The gunman was spotted by an advance team several holes ahead of Trump, the sources told The Post.
...
Initial reports suggested two people were firing at each other. However, sources said investigators now believe the Secret Service agent was the only shooter.

The man's motives are not yet known. He was arrested by Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies.

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/09/15/us-news/shooting-reported-at-donald-trumps-golf-club-while-ex-president-was-on-grounds/

Tucker Carlson on Fox News says Trump told him this occured while Trump was getting ready to putt at the 5th hole, but it's not clear if that's on the championship course, or the "Trump Nine" to the North


There are public roads around the course and relatively easy access. To the north there's Gun Club Road.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

FBI investigating another attempted assassination of Trump

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tr...nshots-his-vicinity-says-campaign-2024-09-15/

Sept 15 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was safe after what the FBI said appeared to be an assassination attempt on Sunday while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Law enforcement officials said during an afternoon press conference that the gunman was in some bushes near the property line of the golf course when Secret Service agents, who were clearing holes ahead of where Trump was playing, spotted a rifle barrel in the bushes.

Agents engaged the gunman and fired at least four rounds of ammunition around 1:30 p.m. (1730 GMT). The gunman then dropped his rifle, two backpacks and other items and fled in a black Nissan car. A witness, the sheriff said, saw the gunman and managed to take photos of his car and license plate.
The gunman was spotted about 400 to 500 yards (365 to 457 meters) from where Trump was playing, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said, adding: "The Secret Service did exactly what should have been done."

Authorities then sent out an alert to statewide agencies with the information on the vehicle, which led to sheriff's deputies in neighboring Martin County apprehending the suspect on I-95.
"We have somebody in custody right now," said Bradshaw, who did not identify the suspect or give details on a possible motive.

Trump's campaign had earlier said he was safe following gunshots in his vicinity.

 

[deirdre]

suspects name is Ryan Wesly Routh
timestamp 1:00

Source: https://youtu.be/UDaZ4j3D0cM?t=60

 

[deirdre]

Sherriff and SS etc give more details and photos.
it was an AK-47
2 backpacks with cement tiles
a go pro camera
citizens took pic of license plate.
picked up on i-95 in martin county.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFCsEOunpE4

 

[Mendel]

2 backpacks with cement tiles

were these intended as a makeshift bulletproof vest?

 

[elvenwear]

were these intended as a makeshift bulletproof vest?

According to Mythbusters, you may be correct.


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNVR0Y048H4

 

[JWrightBrain]

The fellow definitely didn't know what he was doing. AK-47's aren't really known for accuracy are they? Plus having an escape route that is bound to have license plate cameras.

 

[deirdre]

were these intended as a makeshift bulletproof vest?

thats what i was thinking..i see i wrote "cement", i meant ceramic but cant edit now.

 

[deirdre]

The fellow definitely didn't know what he was doing. AK-47's aren't really known for accuracy are they? Plus having an escape route that is bound to have license plate cameras.

i didnt know they can read your license plate on highways. and he may still be living in hawaii.. do they have readers in hawaii?

(he used to live in North Carolina (up 1-95)..was [allegedly] arrested there in 2002 with an ak-47. i assume they confiscated it, so i'm wondering if he got the ak-47 from an old friend in NC. I'm wondering where he would get an ak-47. )

edit:

link in next comment

 

[deirdre]

todays criminal complaint (sept 165)

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69164162/1/united-states-v-sealed/

 

[elvenwear]

The fellow definitely didn't know what he was doing. AK-47's aren't really known for accuracy are they? Plus having an escape route that is bound to have license plate cameras.

It surprises me that many attempted assassins are so incompetent at their trade. This one doesn't know much about guns. The last one had terrible aim. Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme didn't realise she needed to prime or cock the gun before firing on Ford. Sara Jane Moore had issues with the sights on a new gun and missed Ford.

This recent attempt seemed to have been easily repelled by the Secret Service, but the other three mentioned could easily have been successful if the assassins had only been competent.

 

[elvenwear]

i didnt know they can read your license plate on highways. and he may still be living in hawaii.. do they have readers in hawaii?

I imagine they would. In Australia, many police cars had them in 2017. I imagine they probably all do now. Freeways in Australia are able to issue tickets by taking your picture at two separate points and noting the time it took you to travel that distance. In this way they can issue speeding tickets based on your average speed.

This would necessitate number plates being stored on a database for at least a short amount of time. Given the obvious utility in law enforcement, it would be unsurprising if this data is stored for longer periods than is necessary for averaging speed.

 

[JMartJr]

This recent attempt seemed to have been easily repelled by the Secret Service, but the other three mentioned could easily have been successful if the assassins had only been competent.

Sometimes the "assassination attempt" may be more about "notice me!" with whether or not the target dies being secondary...

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

Correction on type of weapon.

It's an SKS carbine; a 1940's vintage collector's item.. and crudely modified.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SKS

...a semi-automatic rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1945.

The person in question was using an SKS-pattern carbine in an attempt to make a 300 to 500-yard shot at the former president.

...the shooter was using a detachable 30-round magazine.... Historically, SKS-pattern carbines have been made exempt from municipal, state, and federal assault weapon bans due to the fact that the factory configuration of this rifle includes a fixed 10-round magazine, which is charged using stripper clips. That said, American civilian firearms owners are always finding clever ways to turn weapons into something they were never meant to be, and detachable magazines intended for use on SKS-pattern carbines are pretty common.

It should be noted that many SKS purists, myself included, are not big fans of these products—not because we don't like extra capacity (extra capacity is almost always a good thing)—but simply because these aftermarket magazines are not nearly as reliable as factory magazines, and reliability is pretty important. After all, one of the most enduringly charming qualities of the SKS is that it is a remarkably simple and extraordinarily reliable weapon system. Replacing critical feed system components with low-quality aftermarket parts like detachable magazines is a great way to mess that up.

...the shooter was using an optic.[scope] Like detachable magazines, SKS-pattern carbines were never designed to take optics. I'll be very curious to see higher-resolution photographs of the rifle in question, but the vast majority of aftermarket SKS optics mounting solutions are quite poor. They might be better than nothing for a Syrian rebel fighting street to street and house to house, but for someone seeking to engage in an assassination, it's an absolutely terrible choice.

Three to five hundred yards is really pushing the first-round hit probability of an SKS. At that distance, you're looking at a roughly six to ten-inch cone of fire, and that's assuming that every other factor is working for you. That means you have an above-average SKS, maybe a Yugoslavian with a mint bore, that's capable of doing about 2 MOA. This also assumes that the shooter makes no errors and you're getting the pure mechanical accuracy of the weapon. It's further assuming that the optic is rock-solid mounted, with no deviation, which is all pretty unlikely.

Additionally, once you factor in that the shooter was using a 30-round detachable magazine, it would prevent him from shooting comfortably prone. From everything I can see about this guy online, he seems like a real chump. The odds of him laying down effective fire at that range are very low.

 

[FatPhil]

Sometimes the "assassination attempt" may be more about "notice me!" with whether or not the target dies being secondary...

Death-by-cop being an available garnish on the dish of "notice me", of course. (Not in this case, he had a route out. The previous guy, though, I'm not so sure.)

 

[FatPhil]

It seems the UA-aligned have been trying to distance themselves from Routh for many months:

 

[Mendel]

The odds of him laying down effective fire at that range are very low.

Note that, had the assassin remained undetected, Trump would have moved much closer to him.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

Note that, had the assassin remained undetected, Trump would have moved much closer to him.

Thanks. I'm not following the details of this one. I got seriously burned out over the first one. The only reason I ran across this YT video is that I watch a lot of videos about vintage firearms and YT sent this one along to me.

 

[deirdre]

Thanks. I'm not following the details of this one. I got seriously burned out over the first one. The only reason I ran across this YT video is that I watch a lot of videos about vintage firearms and YT sent this one along to me.

actually the sheriff said different then your random youtube channel. video in comment #4

7:17
got probably between three and 500 yards
7:21
but with a rifle and a scope like that
7:23
that's not a long
7:26
distance

 

[deirdre]

Correction on type of weapon.

where did you get this information. from that youtube channel?

this gun (video title matches teh fbi affidavit:comment 9 and 10 above) doesnt look like your gun.

 

[deirdre]

hhmmm...

Article:

In his 2023 book titled "Ukraine's Unwinnable War", Routh criticised Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Iran nuclear deal. He wrote that he previously supported Trump and was partly to blame for Trump's presidency, describing his earlier support for Trump as a "terrible mistake".

In the book, which some retailers withdrew following the shooting, Routh wrote: "Iran I apologize. You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal."

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/18/what-we-know-about-trump-assassination-suspect-rouths-party-affiliation

hhmm.. on his twitter page, which i cant prove now, he mentioned assassinating Putin a few times and destroying Moscow. so looks like he really had violence as a cure on his mind.
I'm going to note too, that i am PERSONALLY wondering if Trump's response to the Ukraine question in the debate was the real catalyst. Trump, to my ear said (paraphrase) he is going to end the war to stop the killing. and when asked a few times if he would ensure a Ukraine win he just repeated he was going to stop the killing. Where as Kamala said (paraphrase) Ukraine sovereignty is the most important thing. I did not get the impression from Routh's Twitter account he would accept Russia "winning" at any cost. (not that Trump would let Russia take over Ukraine or anything, but i have no way of guaranteeing that and neither could Routh).

^^i'm really only adding my hypothesis because i havent seen ANY media mention it ie. Trumps ukraine comments in debate and the Repubs keep blaming Biden and Harris' rhetoric for the shooting. I personally am leaning toward the Ukraine issue as the cause.

I guess i should read his book. ok im not reading that, just the blurb on Amazon is way too graphic and ____ for me to stomach. but it does kinda jive with my guess, which is all i was wondering

Article:

After spending five months in Ukraine I began to realize that it was impossible for Ukraine to win this war and that the world should not have grand thoughts that it is possible.
I presume that I must be clear, that while on the current path Ukraine will not win, it is imperative for the world that they do win, and that is why this book is so important, for us all to recognize that losing is not an option and what we must do to win. I obviously did not write this to make any money, as that is totally unimportant; the extremely important issue is that we openly discuss daily the major issues that face Ukraine and what we each must try to do to fix them. This is a conflict of global importance and the outcome will affect us each and every one for the rest of the world.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Ukraines-Unwinnable-War-Abandonment-Citizen-Taiwan-ebook/dp/B0BX4W9XKT

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

where did you get this information. from that youtube channel?

this gun (video title matches teh fbi affidavit:comment 9 and 10 above) doesnt look like your gun.
View attachment 71699

The Soviets licensed the SKS Pattern Carbine to different countries, and those countries made variants. The one in that YT video is a "tactical" variant made in China. The difference is mostly in the stock. It superficially looks different, but the parts that make it "go" are basically the same.

The one the shooter used never looked like that particular Chinese variant. It started out as looking like this. A Chinese Type 56 SKS. I think of this kind of stamped out thing as more of an industrial tool than a firearm.

It could well have been used in the Viet Nam War. It most likely was used more recently in Africa or the Middle East by irregulars as a better than nothing kind of weapon.

The guy is a convicted felon. He probably bought it on the black market... somewhere in the world.

It's been modified... crudely. The change that would be most visible would be the stock.

https://www.atioutdoors.com/product/monte-carlo-sks-stock/

As touched on before, it also was modified with other "after market parts": a crude scope and a 30 round "duckbill" magazine . It was modified to take the 30 round magazine.

If you really want to take the dive, I got this info from this follow-up video. The jargon such as, "Furniture itself is not an immutable characteristic," may be hard to follow. I've presented the important stuff in basic terms.

 

[deirdre]

It started out as looking like this.

hhmmm its possible your youtube guy is correct, but ill wait till the police tell us.

 

[Ann K]

not that Trump would let Russia take over Ukraine or anything, but i have no way of guaranteeing that and neither could Routh).

Trump has been saying for months that he could end the war in Ukraine, but the only method that he has mentioned is by giving Putin what he wants. From an article in April 2024:

Former president Donald Trump has privately said he could end Russia's war in Ukraine by pressuring Ukraine to give up some territory, according to people familiar with the plan. Some foreign policy experts said Trump's idea would reward Russian President Vladimir Putin and condone the violation of internationally recognized borders by force.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/05/trump-ukraine-secret-plan/

It would appear that nothing has changed in that time. Yesterday's news:

Commentators have read a great deal into Trump's unwillingness to explain the terms on which he would end the conflict. But a few days ago, his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, appeared on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast and was more forthcoming. Vance's explanation revealed an astonishing willingness to abandon Ukraine and award a huge geopolitical win to Russia and Putin, fulfilling the worst fears that many had sketched into Trump's evasions.

"What it probably looks like is the current line of demarcation between Russia and Ukraine, that becomes like a demilitarized zone," Vance told Ryan.

That simple statement is sweeping and catastrophic for the government in Kyiv. Effectively, Trump's peace plan would cede Crimea, annexed in 2014, and the 20 percent of Ukrainian territory currently under occupation, to Russia. The message is clear: If you invade a neighboring country and maintain a military advantage, Trump's America is content to see you steal as much territory as you can grab.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-trump-vance-plan-ukraine-160000918.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

 

[deirdre]

It would appear that nothing has changed in that time. Yesterday's news:

ah i missed that news. and it was before the shooting.

Article:

Published Sep 13, 2024

"I think what this looks like is Trump sits down, he says to the Russians, the Ukrainians, the Europeans: 'You guys need to figure out. What does a peaceful settlement look like?' And what it probably looks like is the current line of demarcation between Russia and Ukraine, that becomes like a demilitarized zone," he told the Shawn Ryan Show podcast in an episode released Wednesday.
...
A campaign spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris told Newsweek that the "Trump-Vance-Putin plan for Ukraine is a surrender plan."

"Trump won't say he wants Ukraine to win because he's rooting for Vladimir Putin. Vice President Harris understands that if America walks away from Ukraine, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe and our NATO allies, starting with Poland," the spokesperson said.

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/jd-vance-floats-donald-trump-deal-end-russia-ukraine-war-1953302