(Image via msn.com / Associated Press)

Staff Writer: Gwen Pichette

Email: gpichette@umassd.edu

The Secret Service is facing intense backlash as Republican nominee Donald Trump experiences danger of gunfire for the second time in three months. 

Shots were reportedly fired in the vicinity of his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida while he was playing on Sunday the 16th. The 78-year-old was immediately rushed to a holding room nearby for protection and was not injured. 

This has led to questions about the safety of presidential nominees—nominees who do not get nearly the same protections as presidents themselves do. 

This incident is particularly concerning considering how charged the current political climate is, with extreme polarization on both sides towards both candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. This has been the trigger of severely violent attacks in the past and currently as the election approaches.

Ari Mittleman, the founder of a group called Keep Our Republic who are focused on threats to the election system, agrees. “The one thing that unified Democrats and Republicans,” says Mittleman, is the strong sense that “this election will see political violence.” 

In a recorded session with TIME in January of this year, many participants said “they believed it was a matter of when, not if, someone would be seriously injured or killed during the 2024 election cycle.”

Evidently, this has proven true.

On July 13, a failed assassination attempt occurred during a Michigan rally where a bullet grazed Trump’s ear. Both the gunman and an innocent bystander were killed. While security had initially bolstered because of this incident, it was still not enough as it happened again in September.

While the investigation is still unfolding, the suspect for the incident on the 16th is in custody and has been identified to be Ryan Welsley Routh, pictured below. 

Routh was allegedly residing in a wooded area near the course for an astounding 12 hours before Secret Service agents took note of a rifle “poking out the treeline.” A secret service agent then immediately fired in the vicinity of the rifle, causing Routh to flee the scene by car and discard his AK-47 in the bushes nearby. 

He was later apprehended on I-95 in a neighboring county, arrested, and promptly charged. 

Routh was charged with felony accounts, including “possession of a firearm by a felon and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.” If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

This is not his first run-in with the law. 

Routh’s spotty criminal record goes back to the 1990s, including writing bad checks, a hit-and-run, and resisting arrest.

But a couple of charges in particular caught investigators’ eyes: In 2002, Routh was charged with possessing a weapon of mass destruction as well as a concealed weapons violation. 

While many are calling into question the capability of Secret Service members for their inability to apprehend the suspect earlier, agents say that a golf course is nearly impossible to protect in its entirety. 

Retired Secret Service Agent of 23 years Paul Eckloff weighed in on the difficult matter: “A 400-acre golf course with miles of fence line is breachable. And the systems put in place to mitigate those threats worked. That’s not to say they couldn’t do more. But there are limits to what is possible.”

These same limits were an issue back in July when Trump was shot at a rally held outside. 

What does this mean for the future security of presidential candidates?

There have reportedly already been significant improvements in protection for Trump. This includes bulletproof glass surrounding his podium at rallies, and a visible bolster in armed protection, with long guns reportedly seen outside his residences. 

Trump’s security is now believed to be “quite approximate” to that of Biden’s, but many are not so easily convinced after hearing similar promises after the July assassination attempt. 

President Joe Biden released a statement on the matter vowing for increased security measures: “As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or any violence ever in our country, and 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.” 

(Image via msn.com / Getty Images)

Vice president and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris expressed a similar sentiment: “I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.” 

Despite moments of solidarity like these between the two opposing parties, many Americans are not assured and remain on edge with the upcoming election in November, as political violence comes to a head. All eyes are on the Secret Service who are scrambling to implement stronger protective measures for the presidential nominees.