Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw (D) on Sunday revealed how an attempted assassin came within minutes of killing Donald Trump.
By some stroke of luck, a Secret Service agent inspecting the course at Trump International Golf Club one hole ahead of the former president spotted the would-be assassin's rifle protruding from the chain-link fence surrounding the golf course. But how did the suspected assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, get so close to Trump just minutes before he shot him?
“Next time [Trump] When you come to the golf course, you’ll probably see a few more people around the course.”
At a press conference Sunday afternoon, a journalist asked Bradshaw that very question.
“How did this happen?” the reporter asked.
Bradshaw's response did little to ease concerns about protecting President Trump.
“The golf course is surrounded by brush, so if someone goes into the brush, they're pretty much invisible,” he replied. “And this level where he's at right now is not a sitting president. If he were, we would have surrounded this entire golf course. But because he's not a sitting president, security is limited to areas that the Secret Service deems feasible.”
“Next time [Trump] “When you come to the golf course, you're probably going to have a few more people around,” Bradshaw added, praising the Secret Service.
According to Bradshaw,
- Because Trump is not the sitting president, he does not have the extra security and the area around his golf course has not been fully sealed off.
- The Secret Service is responsible for determining where to deploy protection and security assets.
Unfortunately, Bradshaw's response raised more questions than answers.
It is true that Trump is a presidential candidate, not a sitting president, and it is also true that a sitting president receives significantly more protection than any other recipient of Secret Service protection.
But Trump is no ordinary candidate or protégé: He is a former president and, more importantly, a survivor of an assassination attempt in 2000. Just 2 months ago.
This raises an important question: What must Trump, a former president, a major party presidential candidate and a survivor of an assassination attempt, do to receive due protection from the institutions that are legally required to provide it?
The first assassination attempt was puzzling, but the second one, for some reason, He was aware of Trump's reported “last-minute” decision to play golf. On Sunday — are they lining up to try again? What's going on? Who's in charge? Why is Trump vulnerable to would-be assassins?
Meanwhile, the Secret Service on Sunday offered little about what led Routh to attack Trump within minutes of each other.
“The threat level is high,” said Secret Service Special Agent Rafael Barros, “We've increased the amount of assets we have supporting us, so we're at risk.” [sic] “times”
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