Suspect lurked 12 hours at Trump course, fired no shots

It's public knowledge that Trump often plays golf at one of his Florida courses on Sundays

(Image credit: Martin County Sheriff's Office / Handout / Anadolu via Getty Images)

published 17 September 2024

What happened

The suspect accused of pointing a rifle toward Donald Trump on Sunday camped out at the perimeter of Trump's golf course for nearly 12 hours before he was seen by Secret Service agents, according to cellphone data cited in court documents. Ryan Routh, 58, never had Trump in his line of sight and didn't fire any shots before he was spotted, fired at and fled the scene, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. said yesterday.

The Secret Service's "protective methodologies" were "effective" and the "agents' hypervigilance" and "swift action" were "textbook," Rowe told reporters in Palm Beach. Agents "are rising to this moment" and "meeting the challenges," but "we are redlining them," and Congress should provide more funding for personnel, overtime and facilities. President Joe Biden agreed, telling reporters the Secret Service "needs more help" and lawmakers "should respond to their needs."

Rowe said the Secret Service had to come up with a protective plan quickly on Sunday because Trump "wasn't even really supposed to go there," meaning golf "was not on his official schedule." Rowe "did not clarify" if he meant "agents did not have time to sweep the golf course," The New York Times said, but it's public knowledge that "Trump frequently plays golf at one of his Florida courses on Sundays." Routh probably didn't need to do "very sophisticated surveillance" to discern Trump's location on a Sunday afternoon in Palm Beach, former Secret Service agent Bill Gage said to The Washington Post, and that predictability "gives a bad guy time to prepare."

Routh, appearing briefly in federal court yesterday, was detained until his next hearing on Sept. 23. He is expected to enter his plea at a Sept. 30 arraignment. The two counts Routh was charged with — owning a gun as a felon and obliterating the weapon's serial number — carry up to 20 years in prison, though additional charges are expected as the investigation continues. "Charging him with an attempted assassination could be complicated by the fact that the suspect never fired his weapon," the Post said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.