The man accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump may have had inside information on his movements, a former FBI assistant director said.
Chris Swecker told Newsweek that law enforcement will have to establish how Ryan Wesley Routh appeared to know the exact details of when Trump was playing golf at a Florida resort.
Shots were fired at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday where Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential nominee, was golfing. No injuries have been reported, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
The FBI later said it was joining the investigation into the shooting.
Donald Trump is seen during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 08, 2024. A man allegedly tried to assassinate Trump in Palm Beach on Sunday.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Swecker, who retired from the Bureau as assistant director with responsibility over all FBI criminal investigations, said Routh appeared to be a “wingnut” who hated authority.
“The biggest question to answer is: ‘How did the would-be assassin know to be at that location at that time?'” he said. “There are only three possible answers: He guessed and got very lucky; he conducted surveillance on Trump and followed him to the golf course or he had inside information about Trump’s schedule.
“The last answer is scary and has implications that another person was involved.”
West Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference on Sunday that a U.S. Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a rifle sticking out the fence of the golf course and “engaged” with the suspect. The gunman may have got to within 300 yards of Trump, law enforcement said at the conference.
In a Facebook post on Sunday afternoon, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said that it had “stopped a vehicle and taken a suspect into custody believed to be connected to a shooting incident at Trump International in Palm Beach County.”
Swecker, who retired from the FBI in 2006 and is now an attorney based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said that it may be time to tone down some of the rhetoric on the former president.
“There is little doubt that the demonization of Trump is resonating with the fringe elements who are mentally unstable and highly impressionable, so it may be time to tone it down a bit,” he said.
He said Routh had been involved in some “strange quests,” including trying to get Afghan fighters into Ukraine to fight the Russians.
“We know this suspect has posted about Trump being a danger to democracy and he has been active on some strange quests: visiting Ukraine to round up Afghan fighters so motive is coming into focus—he is a wing nut who dislikes authority, based on his arrest record for resisting arrest in a two-hour standoff,” Swecker said.
That is a reference to an incident in 2002, when Routh was driving without a valid license and was stopped by police. He then sped off and barricaded himself inside his own roofing company for three hours before surrendering.
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, resisting a police officer and driving without a valid license among other charges.
Swecker said Routh believed those saying that Trump is an existential threat to democracy and allegedly decided to take matters into his own hands.
The shooting comes two months after Trump was struck by a bullet that pierced his right ear at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. The 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who fired rounds off a nearby roof was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
