by Dan McCaleb
Federal authorities in Florida filed two weapons charges Monday against a suspect in what the FBI described as an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the second such case in two months.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged with possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Additional charges are expected.
Law enforcement officers claim Routh was armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a scope just outside Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club as the former president played on the course.
A Secret Service agent who was monitoring the golf course one hole ahead of Trump spotted a man with a rifle pointing the barrel through a chain-link fence near the brush surrounding the course, authorities said. The agent fired shots at the suspected shooter, who was about 300 to 500 yards away from the former president. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, was quickly wheeled back to the clubhouse in a golf cart and was not injured.
Routh fled after being fired upon, but a witness took a photo of the car driving away and authorities said they located the vehicle and arrested a suspect.
New York Post reported that Routh had been previously convicted of a number of weapons-related offenses, including a 2002 conviction for possessing a weapon of mass destruction.
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Dan McCaleb is editor-in-chief Central Square.
