Donald Trump was Targeted of Apparent Assassination Attempt in Florida
- AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Florida, VIVA – Donald Trump was the target of what the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday (Sept 15), just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life.
The former president said he was safe and well, and authorities held a man in custody.
U.S. Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.
An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.
The man was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county, as quoted from AP site.
It was the latest jarring moment in a campaign year marked by unprecedented upheaval. On July 13, Trump was shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear.
The days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, giving way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the party’s nominee.
And it spawned new questions about Secret Service protective operations after the agency’s admitted failures in preventing the assassination attempt this summer.