FBI says DONALD TRUMP shooter suspect RYAN WESLEY ROUTH was on their radar since 2019

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - The FBI has revealed that the alleged gunman in the second assassination attempt against Donald Trump never fired his gun and wasn't able to establish a direct line of sight to the former president before fleeing the scene.

New bombshell information about Ryan Wesley Routh, the 58-year-old man now charged in the attempt, was disclosed by law enforcement officials in Palm Beach, Florida, one day after the attempted assassination.

It turns out Routh was well known to law enforcement and had been on the FBI's radar since 2019.

A tip came in claiming that the convicted felon was in possession of a firearm, officials revealed at a press conference on Monday, but the tipster never confirmed the information.

The would-be assassin left behind in the brush of Trump's golf club on Sunday a loaded AK-47 Soviet-style rifle known as an SKS, two bags, a digital video camera and ceramic layered bulletproof body armor.

'We do not have information that has been acting with anyone else in present,' the Miami FBI Field Office's Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri told reporters when asked if the shooter acted alone.

'The subject, who did not have line of sight to the former president, fled the scene,' Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said on Monday. 'He did not fire or get off any shots at our agent with reports of gunfire.'

Routh was arrested 50 miles from the club after a witness saw him flee from the scene in a stolen black Nissan SUV and was able to share the license plate tag with law enforcement and later identify the suspect.

The FBI has interviewed seven witnesses so far they also disclosed.

Investigators are treating the incident as a second assassination attempt against the former president in just two months.

After Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 the USSS has overhauled its handling of the 2024 presidential nominee's security detail.

Rowe took over in an acting capacity when former Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned in the aftermath of the Butler attack.

He said on Monday: 'We need to get out of a reactive model and get to a readiness model.'

'There could be another geopolitical event that could put the United States into a kinetic conflict, or some other, some other issue that may result in additional responsibilities and protectees of the United States Secret Service,' the acting director said.

'We don't have an alternative,' Rowe continued. 'Success – we have to have it every day. We cannot have failures. And in order to do that, we're going to have some hard conversations with Congress, and we're going to achieve that.'

Routh appeared in court on Monday and was charged on two counts: possession of a firearm while a convicted felon; and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The accused was wearing a black prison uniform and his hands and feet were shackled for the eight-minute court appearance at the Paul G Rogers Federal Courthouse on Monday morning.

It is unclear where Routh obtained his rifle since it is not a firearm that is available for purchase in Florida and the serial number is destroyed.

Part of Routh's rap sheet in North Carolina includes 2002 'weapon law violations' and 'terrorist threats,' according to public records. As well as a three-hour standoff with law enforcement in North Carolina.