Alleged would-be assassin arrested and named after fleeing scene

The FBI is investigating a second attempted assassination* of Donald Trump while he was playing golf on his own course.

The former president was playing with a friend at Trump International Golf Club at West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday afternoon local time.

The alleged* attempt on Mr Trump was foiled* when Secret Service agents reportedly spotted a rifle protruding* from the trees.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said a witness reported seeing a man “running out of the bushes” and jumping into a black Nissan, enabling local police to put out an alert to track down the suspect.

A man was quickly arrested on a nearby highway and a weapon and GoPro camera were recovered by authorities on the golf course grounds. The suspect has since been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, believed to be from Hawaii.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said Routh was “relatively calm” and “not displaying a lot of emotion” when officers pulled over his black Nissan SUV.

“He never questioned it,” Sheriff Snyder said, adding that Routh was not armed when he was taken into custody.

Sheriff Bradshaw also confirmed that the suspect had offered “no statement right now in terms of his involvement in the incident”.

At the time of writing, authorities were working to identify Routh’s motive for what the FBI said it believed was the second attempted assassination of Mr Trump in as many months.

Palm Beach County state lawyer Dave Aronberg confirmed local authorities were working on charges, which would likely be followed by federal charges.

In his first comments after the incident, in an email to supporters, Mr Trump wrote: “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!”

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera confirmed the incident took place “on the grounds” of the golf course.

She said “a person of interest” was detained, telling the New York Times: “The intent right now is unknown.”

Mr Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung said: “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity. No further details at this time.”

Republican senator Lindsey Graham said he spoke to Mr Trump after the incident and he was “in good spirits”.

A White House spokesman confirmed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris – Mr Trump’s opponent in the election – had been briefed.

“They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team,” the spokesman said.

Ms Harris later added in a statement: “I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”

HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN AGAIN?
It is just two months since Mr Trump, the Republican candidate for November’s US presidential election, survived an assassination attempt on July 13 at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

The motive for that attempt by 20-year-old Thomas Crooks – who died at the scene – has not yet been established.

But according to Sheriff Bradshaw, Mr Trump’s Florida golf course was not completely locked down because “he’s not the sitting* president”.

“If he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded, but because he’s not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems hostile,” Sheriff Bradshaw said.

“I would imagine that the next time he comes to the golf course, there’ll probably be a lot more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done, they provided exactly what the protection should have been.”

The keen golfer’s regular rounds on various golf courses are not campaign events and are not listed on any public schedules. At Mr Trump’s outdoor rallies, he now speaks from behind bulletproof glass, but Sheriff Bradshaw acknowledged the golf course was surrounded by shrubbery in which anyone could be “pretty much out of sight”.

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GLOSSARY

• assassination: the deliberate killing of a prominent or important person, often for political reasons
• alleged: when something illegal or wrong is said to have been done, but has not been proved
• foiled: stopped, prevented, thwarted, prevent someone or something from being successful
• protruding: sticking out
• vicinity: the surrounding area
• rumors: American spelling
• spiraling: American spelling
• sitting: currently in office, the present leader, not past or future or prospective

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QUICK QUIZ

1. Where was Donald Trump and what was he doing when the alleged assassination attempt was occurred?
2. What did the Secret Service security detail reportedly spot in the trees?
3. What has no place in America, according to Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s opponent in the coming US election?
4. Why wasn’t Trump’s own golf course completely locked down?
5. What security feature has been introduced at Trump’s outdoor rallies since the first assassination attempt on July 13?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Security detail

What security measures should Donald Trump’s advisers put in place to ensure his safety after this second assassination attempt?

List these extra measures below assuming price is no object:

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Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Do you think the US government should provide high level security to all presidential candidates, not just the sitting president?

Do you think these assassination attempts are because Trump is running for president or because of who he is as a person? Explain your position.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Let’s practise taking notes
When note-taking, we want to be able to extract the key pieces of information from the text or presentation. You start with determining the main idea: if you had to explain to someone in a sentence what the article is about, what would you say?

Then back up the main idea with two to four key points to support what you first stated.

What would you put as the main idea and supporting points to back up this article?

Once you have had a go at note-taking.

Share your results with a peer to see if you identified the same information or different.

Discuss the finding if you came up with different information.