US President Joe Biden on Monday local time commended law enforcement efforts which kept Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump safe from what was termed as a “possible assassination attempt,” and condemned political violence, according to a statement released by the White House.
“A suspect is in custody… I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former president’s continued safety,” Biden said, per the statement.
“Violence has no place in America,” US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also Trump’s Democratic opponent in the upcoming election, said in a statement after the Sunday incident.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested and charged with two gun crimes, NBC reported.
He was allegedly pushing the muzzle of a rifle through the fence along the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida when Trump was several hundred meters away. A Secret Service agent who was doing security checks noticed and fired at him, media reported.
The incident came about two months after a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, hitting the former president in the ear.
The Sunday incident triggered discussions on US political violence. A BBC report stated “the national discourse has coarsened, partisan divisions have sharpened and become more entrenched.”
A recent survey of support for political violence in America from a group at the University of California-Davis showed 25 percent of Americans surveyed believe violence is usually or always justified to advance a political objective, per another NBC report.
GT
