Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in the latest apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump, was found in a vantage point regularly used by news photographers.
On Sunday, Routh was arrested in connection with what the FBI said was an attempted assassination on the former President at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Routh reportedly camped out on the edge of Trump’s Florida golf course for nearly 12 hours with food and armed with an SKS-style rifle, before being confronted by one of Trump’s security detail.
A Secret Service agent saw Routh pointing a semi-automatic weapon through the bushes, and shot at him, causing him to flee the scene.
The FBI arrested Routh and recovered his alleged weapon and scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera.
Now, according to reports by The Telegraph, Fox News, and The New York Post, the location where the alleged would-be assassin Routh spent up to 12 hours is a well-known vantage point frequently used by news photographers and paparazzi — raising new concerns about Trump’s security details.
Photographers are ‘Always Amazed How Close They Can Get to Trump’
News photographers are known to secure spots around the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club to capture pictures of the former President and Republican nominee playing golf or driving around in a golf cart.
Photographers are reportedly often able to go through the shrubs at the edge of Trump’s golf club and poke their cameras through the fencing to get a shot of Trump.
Photographers have taken images — which require a clear line of sight to Trump — unnoticed through the bushes with telephoto lenses. A few photographers have even come as close as 75 yards, without drawing any attention from Secret Service agents.
“They’re always amazed how close they can get to Trump and his entourage — it’s easy for them,” a photo agency source tells The New York Post.
Photographers usually announce themselves to the Secret Service agents so they are not mistaken for threats. However, The New York Post’s source says that Trump’s security details are easy enough to evade.
On Monday, Routh was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number—charges that could bring a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.