Ryan Routh’s ‘poor man’s surveillance’ enough to scout out spot to target Trump: expert
The suspect in the second failed Trump assassination attempt, Ryan Routh, may have relied on “poor man’s surveillance” to target the 45th president as he waited about 12 hours outside the golf club before his arrest on Sunday.
Bill Stanton, a former NYPD officer and an executive protection expert, spoke with Fox News Digital on Tuesday regarding security failures surrounding the second attempt on Trump’s life. Authorities have not yet confirmed how Routh knew Trump would be on that golf course Sunday afternoon, with Stanton saying the suspect may have employed a laser focus on Trump — which he called “Forrest Gump focus” in a nod to the classic 1994 movie — and simply Googled Trump’s frequent non-campaign activities to stake out a location.
“If you have someone with like, this Forrest Gump focus… he could have done a journeyman’s research on Google,” Stanton said, and simply searched, “Where does Trump usually go when he’s home in Florida?” before heading to Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach.
“If I’m that guy, I’m doing that, and then I’m going to do a poor man’s surveillance,” Stanton said, explaining the suspect would keep his eyes peeled for Trump’s caravan to roll up to the course.
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Members of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department patrols outside of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Mega for Fox News Digital )
“I’m guessing [Trump] has a lead car. I’m guessing he has his main car and then the chase car. So that’s a little motorcade. That’s at minimum three cars, not to mention the advance car. So that’s about four vehicles right there, and [Routh] could have guessed it,” Stanton said of Routh likely monitoring the club for Trump’s motorcade ahead of the attempt.
News broke Sunday afternoon that Trump had been safely escorted from the course at his Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach after reports of gunfire in his vicinity. Trump was not injured during what is being investigated as a likely assassination attempt, with the suspect identified as a 58-year-old man from Hawaii, Ryan Wesley Routh.
Federal authorities on Monday released charging documents related to Routh’s charges stemming from the suspected assassination attempt, and found Routh’s phone was located near the golf club for about 12 hours, beginning at 1:59 a.m. Sunday until approximately 1:31 p.m. that same day.
“Agents requested T-Mobile, on an emergency basis, to provide law enforcement with information pertaining to Routh’s mobile phone usage. Those records indicated that Routh’s mobile phone was located in the vicinity of the area along the tree line from approximately 1:59 AM until approximately 1:31 PM on September 15,” the charging document reads.
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Routh was arrested shortly after 1:30 p.m. Sunday, after he allegedly pointed an AK-47-style rifle through a chain-link fence towards where Trump was playing golf. U.S. Secret Service protecting the president on the golf course noticed the muzzle of the rifle and fired at the suspect.
Despite no confirmation from authorities on how Routh knew Trump’s whereabouts, Trump’s love of golf has been well documented across his political career.
BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 10: Former President Donald Trump hits his shot from the second tee during the pro-am prior to the LIV Golf Invitational – Bedminster at Trump National Golf Club on August 10, 2023 in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
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Trump frequently golfs over holidays and on weekends when he is not on the campaign trail. Left-wing media outlets criticized Trump during his presidency for playing rounds of golf, including keeping running tabs on the number of days he spent on the course and comparing the stats to how often former President Barack Obama frequented the green.
Routh’s location near the golf course was additionally revealed in a New York Post exclusive this week to be a common paparazzi hang out.
Stanton explained that every person is a creature of habit, but that it’s up to the Secret Service to accommodate Trump’s schedule.
Bill Stanton, security expert and author of “Prepared Not Scared: Your Go-To Guide for Staying Safe in an Unsafe World.” (Bill Stanton )
“It’s not the protected — in this case, former President Trump — to be told what he can and cannot do. It is up to the Secret Service to accommodate the will and travels of President Trump, not the other way around. The tail doesn’t wag the dog. The dog wags the tail,” Stanton, the author of 2019 book “Prepared Not Scared: Your Go-To Guide for Staying Safe in an Unsafe World,” said.
“We are all creatures of habit, especially when you’re in your home. We think we’re not. The same way Google does predictives, we’re like that in the real world: We go get our coffee. We go to the gym, yada yada yada. Now it’s just a little bit more esoteric with Trump because he’s all over the place,” Stanton said.
Ryan W. Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course, stands handcuffed after his arrest during a traffic stop near Palm City, Florida, U.S., Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via REUTERS)
Trump spoke to Fox Digital on Monday and blamed rhetoric promoted by Democrats, namely President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, for the attempt on his life Sunday.
“[The suspect] believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said in the interview. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
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“It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat,” Trump added.
Stanton added in a comment to Fox Digital that the U.S. is facing a “perfect storm of heightened political rhetoric” that can cause people to become “self-radicalized.”
“You have these keyboard warriors. It’s like a drug. They go out, and they spew all their hate and venom online,” he said. “[The internet] has allowed these people, for them to stew in their own psychosis. And then, when that drug doesn’t become enough, now you see it going from like ‘The Matrix’ from the cyber world into the real world.”
Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh was seen being taken into custody Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in bodycam footage released Monday. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office )
Stanton added that the attempt could have been far worse if it had been carried out by trained professionals or a “super villain” who not only could have gotten as close to Trump as Routh, but also leveled an “unfortunate touchdown” against the 45th president.
“This mentally ill individual [Routh] who, by all standards is essentially — using an old school term — a loser, is able to get within a couple of 100 yards. Think about if you had an organized team of two or three,” Stanton warned.
The security expert called for Trump to receive the “highest levels” of security, but not full presidential protection, as that would entail stopping air traffic and shutting down major highways.
“We see trillions of dollars getting thrown around, and you’re telling me you can’t add enhanced personnel on someone who’s already been targeted,” Stanton said.
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, told Fox News Digital that the 45th president has repeatedly called on the federal government to provide additional protection, while lauding the agents who protected Trump on Sunday.
“President Trump is grateful to his personal protective USSS detail who acted swiftly and courageously during yet another assassination attempt. President Trump has repeatedly requested more resources to protect him,” she said.
The Trump International Golf Club is shown, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Fox News Digital pored through Routh’s likely social media accounts Sunday evening, and found he repeatedly posted about Trump, the war in Ukraine, the 2020 election, as well as Trump’s assassination attempt in July during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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“You and Biden should visit the injured people in the hospital from the Trump rally and attend the funeral of the murdered fireman. Trump will never do anything for them….show the world what compassion and humanity is all about,” Routh said in a reply message to Harris’ X account on July 17, for example.
In another X post published on April 22, Routh appeared to quote a commonly used phrase by the Harris campaign, declaring, “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”
“Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA …make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose. We cannot afford to fail. The world is counting on us to show the way,” the account posted ahead of Biden dropping out of the race in July and Harris ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket.
FBI investigators gather evidence from the perimeter of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
Routh also declared on X during the 2020 election cycle that Trump was his “choice” in 2016, before completely backtracking during the 2020 election.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI and Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office for any information regarding how Routh knew Trump would hit the course on Sunday, but did not immediately receive replies. The Secret Service referred Fox Digital to the FBI when approached with the same inquiry.
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Routh was arrested in his car on I-95 after authorities issued a BOLO, also known as a “be on the lookout” alert, to law enforcement agencies on Sunday afternoon.
Court sketch depicting Routh in Federal court in West Palm Beach, FL, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Lothar Speer )
Routh was brought to federal court on Monday morning, when he was seen laughing and smiling ahead of his first court appearance in the case.
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He faces charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Authorities said he could be hit with additional charges.
Routh will face a bond hearing on Sept. 23 and will be arraigned on Sept. 30.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this story.
