More on the second attempted Trump assassination

Backpacks filled with ceramic tiles 

On Sunday, former President and Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, survived a second assassination attempt while at his Palm Beach golf course. The wannabe assassin, Ryan Routh, was spotted aiming his weapon at the golf course and was fired upon by Secret Service. He successfully fled, leaving behind an AK-47-style rifle with scope, two backpacks, a GoPro camera, and he was later caught along I-95 by police and taken into custody.

[H/T RealClearPolitics]

Here's what we know so far:

As the Republican presidential nominee walked the course, Rouse hid in shrubbery just 300-500 yards away on the outer side of a chain-link fence. His rifle peeped out between two knapsacks that were filled with ceramic tiles, possibly used to stop incoming rounds from Trump's protection staff. When he was spotted, the Secret Service agent opened fire, as per Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.

"With a rifle like that with a scope,” the sheriff said at a press conference, “that’s not a long distance.”

The FBI is investigating the incident as another assassination attempt, which will not last long in the legacy news media because, you know, Trump. “The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” the agency said in a statement.

The Secret Service agent fired four poorly aimed shots, but law enforcement was unsure if the individual fired his rifle as their lives flashed before their eyes and time stood still.

Meanwhile, Routh ran to a parked car along the road that had been left unchecked. A witness took photos of both Routh and the vehicle he fled in.

The incident took place around 1:30 p.m., according to law enforcement, and the Trump-Vance campaign announced the news shortly thereafter. “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “No further details at this time.”

“There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I am safe and well,” Trump wrote in an email that was sent Sunday afternoon.

Secret Service sources tell RealClearPolitics that the two backpacks the gunman carried and attached to a chain link fence were filled with ceramic tile to shield the shooter from return fire. “Soft body armor like what we wear, and police wear, can only stop pistol rounds,” the source said. "In order to stop rifle rounds, which travel MUCH faster, you need rifle plates like the military wear or SWAT teams wear.”

“I believe that the suspect hanging two backpacks on the fence filled with ceramic tile was his attempt to provide himself a somewhat protected firing position,” the source added.

The golf course was partially shut down as Trump played through on Sunday. A Secret Service detail was with the former president and also a couple of holes ahead of him, according to Bradshaw, when an agent spotted a “rifle barrel sticking out of the fence.” The campaign had not made the Republican nominee’s schedule public after a West Coast swing that culminated in Las Vegas the night before, though Trump is known to frequent the golf course.

So how did Routh know that Trump would be there at that time?

“He is not the sitting president,” Bradshaw said at the press conference. “If he was, we would have this entire golf course surrounded.”

But while not the sitting president, the media describes him as America's Hitler and a danger to the nation. No wonder he has been twice a target for death, thus far. 

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said in a statement Sunday afternoon that he had spoken with Trump before the news was made public and that his running mate “was, amazingly, in good spirits.” The White House was also alerted of the attempt on Trump’s life. An administration spokesman said that both President Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed on the incident shortly after it occurred, but Biden had nothing to say.

“I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida,” Harris said in a statement posted to social media, “and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”

So why does she continue describing Trump as a danger to the country?

When Trump and Harris shared a stage at the Philadelphia debate last week, the former president laid the blame for the first assassination attempt at the feet of Democrats.

“I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me. They talk about democracy. I'm a threat to democracy. They're the threat to democracy,” Trump said, “with the fake Russia-Russia-Russia investigation that went nowhere.”

The hateful, anti-Trump/anti-Trump voters has got to stop, but this time for real. It should be considered a crime for any media outlet to purvey this kind of rhetoric about any political candidate because there are too many people out there who see assassination as a moral duty.

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