Second Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump Thwarted: Suspect Apprehended After Shots Fired at West Palm Beach Golf Club

It’s happened again.

It was only 65 days ago when a gunman nearly took former President Trump’s life at an outdoor rally in Butler, PA. Today, the FBI is investigating what it described as “what appeared to be an attempted assassination” of Donald Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Details are still quite sketchy, but local law enforcement, the FBI, and the Secret Service have just concluded briefing the press on what is known thus far. Apparently, around 2:00 Eastern time this afternoon, Secret Service agents on Trump’s golf course in Florida saw a man sticking what looked to be the barrel of a rifle through fencing covered by shrubs at the perimeter of the course. At least one agent engaged the suspect, and between 4-6 rounds were fired. It was not determined at this time if the suspect (a male) fired any rounds or not.

A civilian near the scene saw a man with an AK-47 near the fence shortly after the shots were fired. He dropped his rifle and took off in a nearby black SUV. The witness took photos of the suspect and his vehicle. Law enforcement entered the license plate number of the vehicle into a database hooked up to multiple cameras that take photos of license plates of vehicles currently on the highways throughout the state. The suspect was apprehended on I-95 a few miles from the incident and is now in custody.

Upon inspection of the site that the suspect fled, law enforcement found an AK-47 with a scope, two backpacks filled with ceramic tiles and a “Go-Pro” camera tethered to the wire fence.

at Trump Golf Club Sept 24
You can see the weapon in both photos. The Go-Pro is the smaller box tethered to the chain link fence in the image on the right. Image Credit: The Seattle Times

When asked how far the man with the scoped rifle was from the former President, a law enforcement representative stated, “About 300-500 yards”.

As they may say in a court of law, “These are the facts of the matter, and they are undisputed. If I may, I’ll begin a bit of informed speculation and inquiry.

Some of you may be wondering why a shooter may have ceramic tiles in backpacks. The answer to that one is easy: they do an excellent job of stopping incoming rounds. Duct tape some ceramic tiles to a couple of thick books, put them in a bag or backpack and you have some pretty decent improvised body armor. Look how they are tied to the chainlink fence with a gap between them. That’s where the would-be assassin had his weapon. He was clearly protecting himself and his firing position with his improvised armor. The sniper created both cover and concealment. It’s a miracle he was spotted.