The suspect in an apparent assassination attempt against former US president Donald Trump did not fire his weapon, the Secret Service has said.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is facing federal gun charges after he was arrested on Sunday afternoon following the incident at West Palm Beach golf course in Florida, where Mr Trump was playing.
A Secret Service agent spotted a rifle poking through the bushes and opened fire on the suspect.
Routh is alleged to have fled the scene in a car before being captured in a neighbouring county, and has now been charged with firearm offences, authorities said.
Jeffrey B Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI Miami Field Office, told reporters at a news conference that officers are investigating the matter as an “apparent assassination attempt”.
He said several witnesses at the scene have been interviewed adding that “the evidence response team is collecting multiple items” while “DNA has also been collected”.
Mr Veltri also confirmed Routh had numerous charges for handling stolen goods between 1997 and 2010, and was investigated in 2019 when someone reported he had a firearm – he was prohibited from possessing a weapon because of prior convictions.
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So far, authorities do not believe Routh was acting with anyone else, but say he had an active online presence and are compiling details of the subject’s movements in weeks before his arrest.
Mobile phone data shows he was in the area of the golf course roughly 12 hours before the Secret Service opened fire.
US attorney for the southern district of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, described the investigation as being “still at the early stages”.
He said officers had already found a digital camera, a backpack, a rifle and a black plastic bag containing food at the scene.
Acting director Ronald Rowe Jr of the United States Secret Service (USSS) gave more details about the circumstances leading to the arrest of Routh.
He said a Secret Service agent who was sweeping the golf course saw the alleged gunman and “immediately discharged his firearm”.
“The subject who did not have a line of sight to Mr Trump fled the scene. He did not fire any shots at our agent,” he added. Mr Trump was then moved to a safe location.
He explained that following the assassination attempt on Mr Trump in July, the Secret Service “increased assets”.
“In the days that followed, Joe Biden made it clear he wanted the highest levels of protection for Mr Trump and Kamala Harris,” he said.
Mr Rowe confirmed he spoke to the former president and said Mr Trump was “aware that he has the highest levels of protection” from the agency.
He also said the golf trip was not on Mr Trump’s schedule, so they put together a security plan.
Authorities are pursuing and executing search warrants for mobile phones, a vehicle and electronics belonging to Routh, an FBI official said.
Donald Trump says a meeting is being set up between himself and Vladimir Putin – and that he and Barack Obama “probably” like each other.
Republican US president-elect Mr Trump spoke to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday, saying Russian president Mr Putin “wants to meet, and we are setting it up”.
“He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” Mr Trump said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday there was a “mutual desire” to set up a meeting – but added no details had been confirmed yet and that there may be progress once Mr Trump is inaugurated on 20 January.
“Moscow has repeatedly declared its openness to contacts with international leaders, including the US president, including Donald Trump,” Mr Peskov added.
“What is required is a mutual desire and political will to conduct dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue. We see that Mr Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue. We welcome this. There are still no specifics, we proceed from the mutual readiness for the meeting.”
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Trump on Obama: ‘We just got along’
Mr Trump also made some lighter remarks regarding a viral exchange between himself and former Democrat President Barack Obamaat Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday.
The pairsat together for the late president’s service in Washington DC on Thursday, and could be seen speaking for several minutes as the remaining mourners filed in before it began.
Mr Obama was seen nodding as his successor spoke before breaking into a grin.
Asked about the exchange, Mr Trump said: “I didn’t realise how friendly it looked.
“I said, ‘boy, they look like two people that like each other’. And we probably do.
“We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.”
The amicable exchange comes after years of criticising each other in the public eye; it was Mr Trump who spread the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory about Mr Obama in 2011, falsely asserting that he was not born in the United States.
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the Obamas, saying the former president was “ineffective” and “terrible” and calling former first lady Michelle Obama “nasty” as recently as October last year.
On Kamala Harris’s campaign trail last year, Mr Obama said Mr Trump was a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago”, while the former first lady said that “the consequences of him ever being president again are brutally serious.”
The US Supreme Court has rejected a last-ditch attempt by Donald Trump to delay sentencing in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
The president-elect was convicted on 34 counts last May in New York of falsifying business records relating to payments made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors claimed he had paid her $130,000 (£105,300) in hush money to not reveal details of what Ms Daniels said was a sexual relationship in 2006.
Mr Trump has denied any liaison with Ms Daniels or any wrongdoing.
By a majority, the Supreme Court found his sentencing would not be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition since the presiding judge, Juan M Merchan, has indicated he will not give Mr Trump jail time, fines or probation.
Mr Trump’s attorneys argued that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Mr Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.
At the least, they said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Mr Trump during the presidential transition.
Mr Trump’s attorneys went to the justices after New York courts refused to postpone sentencing.
Judges in New York found that the convictions related to personal matters rather than Mr Trump’s official acts as president.
Mr Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.
Mr Trump has said he will appeal again: “I respect the court’s opinion – I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is on the bigger issue. So, we’ll see how it works out,” he said at a dinner with Republican governors at his private club in Florida.
Because the New York case was a state, rather than federal crime, Mr Trump will not be able to pardon himself when he takes office on 20 January.