"I wanted to take the final shot to finish the hole, but the Secret Service agents took me away." This is what former US President Donald Trump said after the second (failed) attack he was involved in, this time at his golf club in Palm Beach , Florida. The tycoon told the story for the first time, in first person, of what happened two days ago, not without a pinch of irony. The reconstruction was broadcast live on X, then cited by the BBC.
"Everything was beautiful," Trump continued, "the place was beautiful and all of a sudden I heard shots fired in the air, I think maybe four or five, and they sounded like bullets... but then what do I know? But the Secret Service immediately realized that they were bullets." "We immediately got into the caddies and moved quickly to get off the golf course. I was with an agent and that agent did a fantastic job. The Secret Service did a great job, everyone did a great job," the former president concluded.
In the meantime, the investigation into the attempted assassination continues unabated, with the FBI, the Secret Service and the police who do not intend to leave any stone unturned. There are many knots to untie, one in particular: it is not clear how Ryan Routh knew that the tycoon would play at the West Palm Beach golf club and the fear is that there was a mole among the staff. The phone records indicate that the man circulated near the club for 12 hours before being stopped by a Secret Service agent.
Routh has so far been charged with two federal felony counts: one for illegal possession of a firearm because he was previously convicted, and the other for partially obliterating the serial number on his rifle. He now faces up to 20 years in prison (and a half-million dollar fine). But the toll could grow in future hearings. The next one is already scheduled for September 23.
(Unioneonline/vf)
