A second attempt in as many months on the life of former president Donald Trump has yet again rattled the Palm Beach community he calls home.
But Trump’s neighbors voiced praise for law enforcement and concern about extreme political rhetoric after Sunday’s incident where the Secret Service had fired on a rifle-carrying gunman who was hiding in the bushes as the former president golfed on his course west of West Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon.
The gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged Monday with two federal firearms offenses and faces up to 20 years in prison.
“I was extremely impressed with Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s reaction and the speed with which he initiated an attempt to capture the alleged shooter,” North End resident Susan Gary told the Daily News Monday.
She also praised the bystander who snapped the photo of the suspect’s license plate.
“In my view, that citizen that took the photo of the license plate was a hero,” Gary said.
At a news conference Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said state officials will seek to bring attempted murder charges against Routh.
DeSantis said he feared that federal agencies investigating Sunday’s incident at Trump International Golf Club would allow “an agenda” to “creep” into their work.
Routh has a bond hearing scheduled on Sept. 23. Until then, he will remain in the Palm Beach County Jail on Gun Club Road.
“I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes — it was certainly an interesting day!” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social Monday morning.
“Most importantly, I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his Office of brave and dedicated Patriots, and, all of Law Enforcement, for the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican Nominee in the upcoming Presidential Election, SAFE.”
Former Palm Beach resident, John O. Pickett III, a real estate agent based on the island, told the Palm Beach Daily News he had golfed many times at Trump International as a guest — and even played rounds with Trump there.
“From a layman’s perspective, Trump’s golf courses have very good security in general, aside from Secret Service protection,” said Pickett, a highly ranked amateur golfer who lives in Lake Worth Beach and has played on dozens of public and private golf courses throughout the state.
“In terms of golf courses in Florida, it’s got some of the tightest security anywhere,” Pickett said.
He mentioned that the standard entrance protocol when he was a guest always involved stopping his car at the front gate, where an armed security guard checked his identification and confirmed which club member would be hosting him. Security only grew tighter after Trump’s election to the White House in 2016, he said.
“When you play with (Trump), there are at least 10 to 15 golf carts playing with you, where normally there would be probably two,” Pickett said.
Trump’s Palm Beach neighbors react to assassination attempt
Palm Beachers are notoriously private so most would not comment about the incident, but following are more responses from some who did:
∎ Midtown resident Anne Pepper: “All I can say is that the vote is the only legitimate way to express disagreement with a candidate for elected office. AR-15s and all military-style weapons should not be allowed in the hands of anyone but the military. Solving differences at the point of a gun is not what the (U.S. Constitution’s) Second Amendment intended. Candidates who continue to support the unfettered sale and use of these weapons are endangering the lives of all of us, especially children, and are encouraging violence against those who do not support their views.”
∎ Midtown resident and Code Enforcement Board member Harris Fried: “First and foremost, let us be grateful that President Trump, yet again, avoided serious harm. After the assassination attempt on President Trump’s life in Butler, Pa., I remarked that hate begets hate and violence begets violence. I did not intend it to be prophetic, but it seems it was. Martin Luther King took it further by saying that the ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing violence, it multiples it. As a faith-based people, we must not let this happen. The stakes are too high. Let us unite to avoid the spiral into chaos that we all face.”
∎ South End resident and Citizens’ Association of Palm Beach Co-Chair Skip Aldridge: “There is no place for this type of violence and hatred in the United States of America. The extreme rhetoric in both parties must stop. We must unite as a country, and we must be able to disagree with civility. I applaud the actions of President Trump’s Secret Service detail who foiled the second attempt on his life in two months. We pray for President Trump and his family.”
∎ Midtown resident Richard Bernstein: “If you’re President of the United States, or you’re in the administration, and you put a target on somebody’s head … and then you say they’re a threat to humanity, you know that some crazy person will take it into their own hands, make a name for themselves.” He added, “If you’re an American and you believe in this country and you do what you think is right, no one has the right to put a target on you.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Trump assassination attempt: Neighbors praise law officers, decry hate
