WASHINGTON — Donald Trump was the target of what the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life. The former president said he was safe and well, and authorities held a man in custody.
U.S. Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.
An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. The man was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county.
We wanted to get a different perspective on the attempted assassination. We spoke with a former Secret Service agent who has protected presidents in the past, and got his take on whether the agency needs restructuring.
Jason Russell worked under former president Barack Obama. He now has his own company and has provided hundreds of security assessments for schools and businesses across the country.
Russell says Trump's golfing is a consistent issue.
"He's out there a lot on Sundays. It wouldn't be hard for somebody to plan," Russell said. He also pointed out that a golf course is difficult to keep secure.
"These situations like this on a golf course in an off-the-record type movement — it's tough to secure an entire golf course, so I think they did the best they could given the amount of resources that they had."
Since the first assassination attempt in July, the agency has increased their resources for Trump. Russell says the agency as a whole could be struggling with staffing.
"I think that the Secret Service is experiencing the same kind of struggles that a lot of law enforcement agencies are, which is just retaining and recruiting new people. Obviously the process to become an agent is fairly extensive. So getting people through that process, getting them trained and then capable takes a little bit of time. I think, unfortunately, they're a little bit behind the eight ball with it," Russell said.
Russell said his recommendation would be to use every kind of technology out there, including drones and license plate readers to help increase agents' ability to protect.