Donald Trump’s alleged assassin apparently knew when he would be playing golf, raising the possibility that he was tipped off, a former FBI deputy director told DailyMail.com.
In the hours since a Secret Service agent shot a man authorities say was trying to assassinate the former president, law enforcement officials have been gathering information about suspect Ryan Wesley Routh. It remains unclear how he was able to hide in bushes with an AK-47 near the sixth hole of the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach.
Trump’s golf schedule is not made public in advance, although golf is a regular pastime for the former president.
“If you think outside the box, there could be someone at that club, at Mar a Lago or at the golf club, who just doesn’t like him and has different political views. And, you know, they could have provided him with this information,” former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told DailyMail.com, describing one possible scenario or motive.
He said Routh could have been given information about Trump’s movements deliberately or by someone who shared it unwittingly. Or, Routh could have been monitoring and studying Trump’s movements to prepare for his action, putting his knowledge to use, he said.
A former senior FBI official questions how Ryan Wesley Routh knew to set up shop near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course, and asks if he had inside information.
‘I mean, there are only a couple of possibilities here. One is that this guy had inside information and had enough time to get to that fifth hole, that spot between the fifth and sixth holes, and get ready.’
“If someone had tipped them off at the time Trump walked off the first tee, it would have been about an hour and 15 hours and 20 minutes before he got to that spot,” he said, outlining the possibility.
“The other possibility is that he was keeping an eye on the former president, either by watching Mar-a-Lago to see when he left, or by physically following him and his vehicle and determining exactly where he went,” he said.
“The third possibility is that he was lucky. I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s one of the first two and neither of them has good consequences,” he concluded.
The South Florida criminal complaint alleges Routh was near the tree area for nearly 12 hours, according to his cellphone data — information that could contradict the idea that he received specialized help or suggest he had only general information.
The suspect managed to smuggle a rifle into the vicinity without anyone officially knowing that Trump would be there.
A charging document states it was located near the tree line on Trump’s golf course for nearly 12 years.
Routh is not believed to have had any specialised training and his unlikely attempts to get involved in defending Ukraine against Russia appear to have been rejected out of hand. However, there are signs of preparation and forethought, according to some of the initial evidence.
One of them concerns backpacks containing pottery that could provide protection against gunfire.
They were “strategically hanging from the chain link fence… as if to protect him as he stood and used the chain link fence as a support. And it appeared to me that he intended to shoot the former president as he approached him.”
One official investigating the case went even further, raising the possibility of a “conspiracy” without identifying any clues about a possible accomplice.
“How can a guy who’s not from here walk up to Trump International and realize that the president, former president of the United States, is playing golf and is able to get a rifle in that area? I think that’s a question that the FBI and the Secret Service are focused on today,” Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder said at a televised news conference Monday.
“Is this guy part of a conspiracy? Is he a lone gunman?” Snyder asked.
Among the questions Swecker wants investigated is whether the suspect set up his sniper nest quickly or “if he was planning this and set it up and scouted it ahead of time.”
He had previously expressed concern about the excuses provided by former Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle following the attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In recent hours, a number of officials have revealed information about security protocols to protect the president.
“At the level he’s at right now, he’s not the sitting president. If he was, we would have surrounded this entire golf course. But since he’s not, security is limited to areas that the Secret Service deems possible,” said Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
“I imagine the next time I come to a golf course, there will probably be a few more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done,” he said.
Swecker said, “I guarantee you right now the FBI is going to muzzle that sheriff and they’re not going to talk a lot about the details, because they’re in protection mode, particularly the prosecution. And the U.S. attorney’s office is going to crack down on the FBI. The FBI is going to crack down on the sheriff and we’re not going to get a lot of details, despite the fact that they know a lot,” he said.