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Security detail for Trump worked but incident raises questions about safety of candidates

Biden says he believes the Secret Service needs more personnel to cope with providing security detail

Once again an individual carrying a lethal weapon managed to come within range of the Republican candidate Donald Trump. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
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Keith Duggan Washington Correspondent
Mon Sept 16 2024 - 20:27

One of the stranger aspects of the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump is that the shooter that evening in Pennsylvania, Thomas Matthew Crooks (20), remains a spectral presence in the near-atrocity he devised. He was killed by a sniper moments after he opened fire on the former US president as he spoke at an open air rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

In the days afterwards it emerged that Crooks had left only a very faint social media presence and had lived a somewhat isolated life. No obvious motive for his act was ever established. The shooting occurred on live television and the image of Trump emerging from a thicket of Secret Service personnel with his face bloodied and his fist raised in defiance became indelible.

Sunday’s incident was the inverse of that. No shots were fired at the former president, who was again hustled to the ground by Secret Service personnel and escorted to safety. There were no cameras present. The gunman fled the scene and was quickly arrested and very rapidly a quite detailed profile emerged of the detainee who was, on Sunday evening, named as Ryan Routh, a 58-year-old American who was deeply invested in the pro-Ukrainian cause. He appeared in court in Palm Beach on Monday, charged with two federal gun crimes, with further charges anticipated.

On the face of it the security detail for Trump worked. But the details raise a series of questions about the safety of the candidates during the closing phase of a US election campaign of unprecedented volatility. Once again an individual carrying a lethal weapon managed to come within range of the Republican candidate and a former president. Whatever the assailant’s intent it was foiled by the sharp action – and the decision to open fire – by a Secret Service agent. But what if he had failed to notice an individual hiding in the perimeter bushes? And how had Routh come to know that Trump would be on the golf course at that time on that day?

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On Monday, President Joe Biden, giving thanks that his former presidential rival was unharmed, said he believes the Secret Service needs more personnel to cope with providing security detail. The Republican candidate had already been grazed by a bullet and come within the range of another individual carrying a weapon. Campaign rallies feature not only the presidential and vice-presidential candidates but also governors and state elected officials, all of whom require protection.

The latest incident will place renewed scrutiny on the heightened rhetoric informing this US election. After the July assassination attempt the early calls for both sides of a country navigating an ideological chasm were soon swept aside as the campaign returned to a pattern of accusation and counter accusation. That tone is unlikely to change between now and November.