The suspect in what authorities believe to be a second assassination attempt on former President Trump, Ryan Routh, was a person known to the FBI in 2019.
Police said a Secret Service agent guarding President Trump opened fire on Sunday after a gun was found protruding from a perimeter fence around the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Suspect Ryan Routh, 58, fled to his car but was spotted by a witness who wrote down the license plate number. Police arrested Routh in a neighboring county and he is currently in custody on federal firearms charges.
Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri of the FBI's Miami field office said in a press release Monday that a source ” [Routh] In 2019, he was a “felon in possession of a firearm.”
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Ryan Routh, suspected of plotting to assassinate former President Trump at a golf course in West Palm Beach, is handcuffed after his arrest near Palm City, Florida, on September 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office/Distributed via Reuters)
“During the investigation into the tip, the alleged accuser was interviewed but did not confirm the original tip,” Veltri wrote. “The FBI passed the information on to local police in Honolulu.”
Between 1980 and 2010, Routh had more than 100 interactions with police and was charged with a variety of offenses ranging from writing bad checks to felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle and multiple counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction.
According to the FBI, the agency receives about 1,300 tips per day.
“The FBI's National Threat Control Center (NTOC) at its Clarksburg, West Virginia facility receives thousands of telephone and electronic reports from the public each day, including information about possible terrorism, cybercrime, theft, public corruption, violent crimes and a variety of other criminal activity. Threat Reception Officers rapidly evaluate each lead and determine the best course of action,” the FBI said in a statement.
“Calls involving threats to life, serious injury, or serious acts of violence are given top priority. That information is then sent to the appropriate FBI field office, state/local law enforcement, tribal law enforcement, or other federal agencies and partners. Any investigative actions that may be required as a result of a call or report will be conducted by the appropriate FBI field office or other appropriate law enforcement agency.”
Former FBI Senior Special Agent Scott Duffy told Fox News Digital that many tips don't lead to interviews “if superiors … determine that no action needs to be taken.”
Duffy said since the 2018 Parkland High School shooting, all reports to the FBI about potential threats to schools have been followed up, and those that aren't are left to their own judgment.
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FBI agents remove boxes of evidence from around the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 16, 2024. (Mega from Fox News Digital)
“[The tip] It first goes through the FBI's reporting center, then to an FBI office, and the local FBI office does its own threat assessment. There must have been some kind of violation or potential violation of law. [to warrant a follow-up]” said Duffy.
“It will then be handed over to FBI analysts. [who says,] “Let's look into that person and see if there's been any previous information on that person. It's going to take a huge amount of analysis,” he continued.
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Ryan Routh's 2010 arrest photo (Guilford County Sheriff's Office)
Duffy said that in high-threat cases, scene investigators will often visit the subject of a call, but “unless there's probable cause to make an arrest, there's nothing they can do.”
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“If an individual does not pose an immediate danger to themselves, the community or FBI agents, and has not disclosed incriminating information, FBI agents have the authority to write it down. [from the tip] “And then they put that in a file,” Duffy said, “so it's in the FBI's file forever. And the FBI can share or forward that information to local law enforcement and say, 'Is there anything we can do for you?'”
