Joe Biden says Secret Service needs more help after Trump targeted in apparent assassination attempt
US President Joe Biden has said the Secret Service needs more help after Donald Trump was targeted in an apparent assassination attempt on Sunday.
Mr Biden said he was thankful Mr Trump was “OK” before adding he did not yet have a full report of what happened.
He added: “One thing I want to make clear is that the service needs more help and I think Congress should respond to their needs.”
When asked what extra help the service needs, Mr Biden said it might need to be considered whether the service needs “more personnel or not”.
He made the remarks after the FBI said an “apparent assassination attempt” on Mr Trump was thwarted on Sunday, with a man arrested and an assault rifle recovered.
Mr Trump was playing a round at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach in Florida when gunshots were heard.
It is not yet known whether the suspect fired first, fired a round at all or if only the Secret Service fired.
Follow latest: Suspect detained after ‘running out of bushes’
The former US president was on the fifth hole when he was tackled to the ground by security agents fearing an attempt on his life.
The fifth hole in the north-eastern corner of the golf course is just over 300 metres (328 yards) from the southern perimeter fence.
The course is lined with thick foliage, but satellite images show the area between the fence and the approximate point Mr Trump had reached on the course is mostly open water and grass – with the sightline potentially blocked by some trees bordering the lake.
Agent spotted rifle barrel poking out if fence
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that a Secret Service agent, who was patrolling the course ahead of Mr Trump, spotted a rifle barrel coming out of a perimeter fence.
“He immediately engaged that individual, at which time the individual took off,” he said.
Mr Bradshaw said Mr Trump was about 300 to 500 yards (275 to 460m) from the suspect, named as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, at the time.
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Trump ‘apparent assassination bid’ timeline
Dave Aronberg, Palm Beach County’s state attorney, told MSNBC the suspect was “lying in wait” for Mr Trump.
“We are not sure right now if the individual was able to take a shot at our agents”, Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami field office, has told a news conference.
Ryan Routh pictured as he is arrested. Pic: Martin County Sheriff’s Office
Routh fled in a black Nissan SUV and was arrested after his vehicle was stopped by local police, Sky News’s US partner network NBC News reported, citing three senior law enforcement officials.
He was stopped by police driving northbound on the I-95 highway, about 46 miles and a 43-minute drive from the golf course.
The southern perimeter fence runs along Summit Boulevard, where a police cordon was put up and officers were seen searching the bushes bordering the golf course.
Officers later searched the area where the man, believed to be Routh, was spotted and found an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two rucksacks and a GoPro.
Suspect Ryan Routh. Pic: Ryan Routh/Facebook
Earlier, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder described how his officers followed the suspect’s vehicle for a while before making a “felony stop”.
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Footage of Trump’s assassination suspect
Pictures of the gun and rucksacks were displayed at the news conference
He said: “Our road units picked the vehicle up and we waited a while. We didn’t stop him right away. We didn’t want a high-speed chase.
“So we were able to wait until we had adequate units, surrounded the vehicle, and forced it to a stop.”
He added they managed to take the suspect into custody peacefully.
Routh has since appeared in a federal courtroom in West Bank Palm Beach, Florida.
Read more:
What we know about what happened so far
Urgent question over how ‘assassination attempt’ may affect election – analysis
Police vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club. Pic: AP
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Trump says, ‘he will never surrender’
Afterwards, a statement from Mr Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumours start spiralling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me.
“Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again. May God bless you.”
Mr Trump’s motorcade heading to Mar-a-Lago after the incident
Mr Trump has since returned to his Mar-a-Lago resort.
A White House statement said after the incident: “The president and vice president have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former president Trump was golfing.
“They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team.”
Ryan Routh pictured in 2022 during a rally for support of Ukraine, at the Independence Square in Kyiv.
Pic: Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine Suspilne/Reuters
What do we know about the suspect?
Routh is reported to have travelled to Ukraine in an attempt to help the country in its fight against Russia.
A video has emerged of an interview he gave to Newsweek in 2022 where he spoke about his efforts to recruit foreign volunteers for Ukraine’s ground forces.
It has also emerged Routh wrote a book about the conflict where he described how he “gave up and quit”, a decision he says makes him “the worst of humans”.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that public records show Routh faced criminal charges over two separate incidents in 2002 for possession of a weapon of mass destruction – which can refer to a machine gun.
He pleaded guilty to the first charge in April 2002, but no other details were publicly available, according to the newspaper.
The News & Record reported that later that year he was also charged after barricading himself in a United Roofing building in Greensboro for three hours, armed with a machine gun.
The incident began after he was pulled over for a traffic stop, but police eventually arrested him without incident.
In that case, he is said to have pleaded guilty to driving without a licence and registration, resisting a public officer and carrying a concealed firearm – while public records reportedly indicate the weapon of mass destruction charge was dropped.
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Sky’s Mark Stone reports from outside the golf course in Florida where a suspect was seen with a gun
According to records, Routh lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018, the Associated Press reported.
In relation to the incident at Mr Trump’s golf course on Sunday, Routh’s son has told CNN that he hopes “everything has been blown out of proportion” and that it would be unlike his father to “do anything crazy, much less violent”.
Oran Routh said: “Ryan is my father, and I don’t have any comment beyond a character profile of him as a loving and caring father, and honest, hardworking man… He’s a good father, and a great man, and I hope you can portray him in an honest light.”
It comes two months after Mr Trump sustained an ear injury during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.
The gunman, who was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by the Secret Service at the scene.
The attempt on Mr Trump’s life led to the resignation of Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, who admitted to Congress that her agency had its “most significant operational failure” in decades.
It’s 5.30am, but the car park outside a laundrette in south central Los Angeles is already bustling.
A woman is setting up a stand selling tacos on the pavement and the sun is beginning to rise behind the palm trees.
A group of seven women and two men are gathered in a circle, most wearing khaki green t-shirts.
The leader, a man named Francisco “Chavo” Romero, begins by asking how everyone is feeling. “Angry,” a few of them respond. “Proud of the community for pushing back,” says another.
Ron, a high school history teacher, issues a rallying cry. “This is like Vietnam,” he says. “We’re taking losses, but in the end we’re going to win. It’s a war.”
Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero leads a volunteer group, attempting to warn people ahead of ICE raids
This is what the resistance against Donald Trump’s immigration policy looks like here. In the past month, immigration and customs enforcement agents – known as ICE – have intensified their raids on homes and workplaces across Los Angeles.
Since the beginning of June, nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in the city, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The previous monthly high was just over 850 arrests in May this year.
Police use tear gas against protesters, angry at a recent immigration raid at a farm in Camarillo, California. Pic: AP
Videos have circulated online of people being tackled to the ground in the car park of DIY shops, in car washes and outside homes. The videos have prompted outrage, protests and a fightback.
“Chavo” and Ron belong to a group of organised volunteers called Union del Barrio. Every morning, a group of them meet, mostly in areas which have high immigrant populations.
The day I meet them, they’re in an area of LA which is heavily Latino. Armed with walkie talkies to communicate with each other, megaphones to warn the community and leaflets to raise awareness they set out in cars in different directions.
A volunteer from Union del Barrio shows Sky’s Martha Kelner how they try to stay one step ahead of ICE agents
They’re looking for cars used by ICE agents to monitor “targets”.
“That vehicle looks a little suspicious,” says Ron, pointing out a white SUV with blacked-out windows, “but there’s nobody in it”.
An elderly Latino man is standing on a street corner, cutting fruit to sell at his stall. “He’s the exact target that they’re looking for,” Ron says. “That’s what they’re doing now. The low-hanging fruit, the easy victim. And so that is proving to be more successful for their quotas.”
This man, selling fruit on a street corner in LA, is a potential target of immigration agents
In the end, it turns out to be a quiet morning in this part of LA, no brewing immigration operations. But elsewhere in the city, dawn raids are happening.
ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
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In June, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protestors demonstrating against immigration raids
Maria’s husband Javier was one of those arrested in LA. He came to the United States from Mexico when he was 19 and is now 58.
The couple have three grown-up children and two grandchildren. But Javier’s work permit expired two years ago, according to Maria and so he was living here illegally.
Maria’s husband Javier was arrested after his work permit expired
She shows me a video taken last month when Javier was at work at a car wash in Pomona, an area of LA. He is being handcuffed and arrested by armed and masked ICE agents, forced into a car. He is now being held at a detention centre two hours away.
“I know they’re doing their job,” she says, “but it’s like, ‘you don’t have to do it like that.’ Getting them and, you know, forcing people and pushing them down on the ground. They’re not animals.”
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US troops accused of ‘political stunt’ after park raid
Maria wipes away tears as she explains the impact of his absence for the past four weeks. “It’s been so hard without him,” she says. “You feel alone when you get used to somebody and he’s not there any more. We’ve never been apart for as long as this.”
The family have a lawyer and is appealing for him to remain in the US, but Maria fears he will be sent back to Mexico or even a third country.
Maria fears her husband, who has lived in the US for nearly 40 years, will be sent back to Mexico
“I don’t know what to say to my grandkids because the oldest one, who is five was very attached to his papas, as he calls him. And he’s asking me, ‘When is papa coming home?’ and I don’t know what to say. He’s not a criminal.”
The fear in immigrant communities can be measured by the empty restaurant booths and streets that are far quieter than usual.
People in LA are being asked to report sightings of ICE officials so others can be warned
I meet Soledad at the Mexican restaurant she owns in Hollywood. When I arrive, she’s watching the local news on the TV as yet another raid unfolds at a nearby farm.
She’s shaking her head as ICE agents face off with protesters and military helicopters hover overhead. “I am scared. I am very scared,” she says.
All of her eight employees are undocumented, and four of them are too scared to come into work, she says, in case they get arrested. The process to get papers, she says, is too long and too expensive.
Read more from Sky News:
Farmer first to die during ICE raids
Trump warns comic over citizenship
Soledad, who owns a Mexican restaurant, plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive
“They call me and tell me they are too afraid to come in because immigration is around,” she says.
“I have to work double shifts to be able to make up for their hours, and yes, I am very desperate, and sometimes I cry… We have no sales, and no money to pay their wages.”
There is just one woman eating fajitas at a booth, where there would usually be a lunchtime rush. People are chilled by the raids.
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Soledad says she plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive.
“I’ve told them, get inside the fridge, hide behind the stove, climb up where we have a space to store boxes, do not run because they will hunt you down.”
The White House says they’re protecting the country from criminals. ICE agents have been shot at while carrying out operations, their work becoming more dangerous by the day.
The tension here is ratcheting up. Deportation numbers are rising too. But the order from Donald Trump is to arrest even more people living here illegally.
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