How was the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump prevented?
Báo Tin Tức•16/09/2024
Questions will be asked about Mr Trump being targeted again, but the Secret Service is being praised for thwarting the attack.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw holds a photo of a rifle and other items found near where the suspect was found, during a press conference about the plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump on September 15, 2024. Photo: Getty Images A Secret Service spokesman summed up the unusual afternoon at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a simple phrase: “We live in dangerous times.” The spokesman made his assessment at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, just hours after a subject was found carrying an AK-47-style semi-automatic rifle just a few hundred yards from where Donald Trump was playing golf. The FBI is treating the incident as the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in as many months. Photos released by law enforcement appear to show a sniper’s prepared position, and there will certainly be sharp security questions about how an unknown subject was able to get so close to Trump. The details released at the press conference underscored how close Mr Trump came to being assassinated – again, after a gunman fired a bullet that grazed his ear at a campaign event in Butler County, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Asked by reporters how close the gunman was to his target, Mr Trump, West Palm Beach Police Chief Ric Bradshaw said: “Probably 300 to 500 yards – but with a rifle and a scope like that, that’s not a lot of distance.” A security alert had been declared in the area since 1:30 p.m. on September 15 when the Secret Service reported hearing gunshots. Mr Trump was golfing with his friend and major Republican donor, real estate mogul Steve Witkoff. They were in the area between the fifth and sixth holes of the 18-hole golf course. Sheriff Bradshaw explained that the area was surrounded by dense brush—a nightmare for security—and that allowed the assassin to hide on the edge of the course almost undetected. Federal agents revealed that in addition to the AK-47-style rifle and scope, the suspect had two backpacks and a GoPro camera, which Bradshaw said indicated he intended to record himself. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, initial analysis of the scene revealed two different narratives. The first focused on how Trump was exposed, even after security had been beefed up following the Butler assassination attempt, and how easily a heavily armed individual appeared to have entered the golf course and hidden in the brush. According to Sheriff Bradshaw, if Trump had been president at the time, he would never have been allowed by the Secret Service to play golf in such an open environment. But “he’s not president, so we’re limited to what the Secret Service thinks is possible,” Bradshaw explained. The second story is more positive. Unlike the Butler County assassination attempt, which saw the Secret Service face serious questions about its competence and led to the resignation of then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, the September 15 incident paints the agency in a much brighter light. Police guard the entrance to Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15. Photo: EPA The suspected gunman was spotted by a Secret Service agent acting as a scout ahead of Trump, who was walking a hole or two ahead of him to identify potential threats. Despite the dense vegetation on both sides of the golf course, the agent saw a rifle barrel protruding and took the initiative to engage the suspect, firing four to six shots. “The Secret Service did exactly what they were told to do and their agents did a fantastic job,” Bradshaw said.
The suspect's arrest was also swift. When he was shot, the suspect dropped his rifle, fled through the bushes, and jumped into a black Nissan that he had allegedly left in a strategically placed location for a quick getaway. Fortunately, a passerby saw him fleeing and took a photo of the car, including the license plate. Surveillance technology in Florida is so powerful that within minutes, the license plate was run through the state's license plate reader. The fleeing suspect was quickly tracked to I-95 and immediately arrested at gunpoint. According to William Snyder, sheriff of neighboring Martin County, where the arrest was made, the suspect was unarmed and appeared to be "relatively calm, not showing much emotion." The exemplary way federal and local law enforcement worked together to prevent a potentially catastrophic event, including apprehending the suspect, has helped to ease the tension of the incident, as the inevitable blame game has played out. But there are still questions that have been laid bare and demand answers. How, after nearly being assassinated in Pennsylvania, could Mr. Trump be out golfing in a seemingly untenable environment? What is happening in a country with a painful history of successful assassinations when a former president and current White House candidate has been targeted not once but twice in such a short period of time? A vigilant Secret Service agent saved the country from a shocking tragedy. But the question is whether such security is enough? “The threat level is very high,” a Secret Service spokesman stressed. “We live in dangerous times.”
Comment (0)