A Secret Service whistleblower has made a bombshell claim about a security lapse at former President Donald Trump’s Florida golf course where a would-be assassin was found with an AK-47.
The 78-year-old former president was enjoying a round of golf in West Palm Beach on Sunday, when Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, allegedly stuck the barrel of his weapon through the chain-link fence.
But it was later revealed that agents had spotted Routh prior to the assassination attempt, and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley now says the Secret Service failed to secure the perimeter.
He said it’s not even clear that the Secret Service swept the area before the Republican presidential nominee stepped onto the course, he told Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime Wednesday night.
If such allegations are true, Hawley said it would mean that Trump’s detail failed to follow protocol just two months after he was grazed in the ear by a bullet at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally.
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley revealed Wednesday night that whistleblowers told him the Secret Service failed to secure the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course
The former president was playing a round of golf when an eagle-eyed officer noticed the barrel of an AK-47 sticking out of the chain-link fence
Hawley argued on Wednesday that the Secret Service should have been prepared to prevent any assassination attempts at the golf club, which Trump frequently visits.
‘Secret Service have guarded that course many, many times and what our whistleblower says is, protocol calls for Secret Service to station agents along the places in the course that are known vulnerabilities,’ the Missouri senator said.
‘I want to emphasize the Service has guarded this course many times, they know where there are vulnerabilities. They normally station agents there ahead of Trump’s appearance there on the course,’ he continued.
‘They did not do that this last weekend, and the whistleblowers tell me that’s strange, that’s out of protocol.’
‘It’s not even clear the Secret Service swept the perimeter before Trump took to the course, also a breach of protocol, and they want to know why and so do I,’ Hawley said.
The claim comes just months after the Secret Service came under fire for failing to secure a wide enough perimeter around Trump at his July 13th rally in Pennsylvania, where Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate the former president.
Meanwhile, an agent that had spotted Routh at the golf course earlier in the day initially thought he was a homeless man, Punchbowl News reporter Mica Soellner reports.
Routh was not handling a firearm at the time, but had a weapon lying next to him, she said.
Officials said Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was on the public side of the Trump golf course’s perimeter fence when the agent spotted the rifle’s muzzle
He had apparently waited in the area for about 12 hours for a chance to take out Trump
Officials said Routh was on the public side of the Trump golf course’s perimeter fence when the agent spotted the rifle’s muzzle.
He had waited in the area for about 12 hours for a chance to take out Trump before an eagle-eyed officer saw the barrel of his AK-47 in the bushes, and agents opened fire and evacuated the former president.
But questions have since emerged about how the suspect was able to get so close to where the president was golfing.
Routh had in the past been charged with dozens of offenses during a lifetime of petty crime and was arrested for everything from felony larceny, to a hit and run, and for brandishing a weapon of mass destruction.
His behavior was even flagged to the FBI prior in 2019 when the agency received a tip that Routh had a firearm despite being a felon. But after questioning, the investigation into Routh was closed.
‘What did they do here?’ former Secret Service agent Rich Starpoli asked on Fox News. ‘They went out, they interviewed this guy, they closed the case, they put it on a shelf…how about calling the secret service? How about notifying local law enforcement for some follow up? Yet it wasn’t done.’
Routh is facing charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number
Hawley claimed that agents failed to secure areas around the golf course that were known vulnerabilities
The lawless would-be Trump shooter had also travelled to Ukraine in 2022 to support the war effort, but according to the Wall Street Journal, Routh acted so erratically that other Americans who encountered him flagged his behavior to US authorities.
One woman, a nurse named Chelsea Walsh, had several encounters with Routh in Kyiv in 2022, and reported him to a Customs and Border Protection officer at Washington Dulles airport in June 2022, claiming that his threats of violence had worried her.
‘This is another blatant case where the FBI is supposed to be sharing information but wasn’t,’ Starpoli claimed.
‘You’re telling me that the secret service with a $4billion budget and 7000 employees cant predict and can’t pre-post an event that’s going happen on a golf course?’ he asked, incredulously.
Even Trump himself has expressed his concerns about the Secret Service response, arguing that he needs more agents on his protective detail.
‘That’s the weakness,’ he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. ‘I think that’s the weakest use you still need the power of the people.’
‘We need more people here,’ he told Hannity. ‘We never seem to get that, and I think we are getting it now. Somebody told me that they will be providing more people now.’
Trump frequently enjoys a round of golf at the West Palm Beach course
Questions have emerged about how the suspect was able to get so close to where the president was golfing
Trump went on to praise his personal detail, calling them ‘as good as you’re going to find, and did a fantastic job.’
But still, he said, ‘Somebody could have missed the barrel of that rifle, or somebody that was distracted, could have missed or could have been shot.
‘I mean, frankly, you know, I could have also been shot, but in this case, it was something that worked out very well.’
Secret Service Acting Director Ron Rowe said on Monday that Routh was not able to get off a single shot and never had Trump in his ‘line of sight.’
‘As former President Trump was moving through the fifth fairway, across the course and out of sight of the sixth green, the agent, who was visually sweeping the area of the sixth green, saw the subject armed with what he perceived to be a rifle and immediately discharged his firearm,’ he noted.
The acting director went on to insist the agency had a security plan in place for Trump’s golf game, which he said was unscheduled.
He claimed agents scrambled to get a security perimeter in place when Trump decided to golf at his Florida club on Sunday.
‘We put together a security plan, and that security plan worked,’ he said at a press conference on Monday.
Law enforcement is still investigating all the details, including where the suspect got the AK-style rifle, his movements ahead of the incident and if anyone else was involved.
Investigators are now trying to restore the serial number on his AK-47 so they could trace its origins.
In the meantime, Routh is facing charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.