Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced on Sunday night that the state will conduct its own investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump despite the FBI's investigation into the incident.
“The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club,” DeSantis wrote Sunday evening in a post on the social platform X. “The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee.”
The would-be assassin stuck his AK-47 through the bushes 300-500 yards away from where Trump was golfing before a Secret Service agent fired shots to thwart the attempt.
Unlike the previous assassination attempt in July in Butler, Pennsylvania, the would-be assassin didn't get any shots off this time despite lying in wait for Trump for 12 hours.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, fled the scene in a car but was later arrested after a witness took a picture of the license plate.
Routh was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction in North Carolina, but it was not immediately clear what that entailed.
The motive for the attempt wasn't clear, but Routh did post support online about the war in Ukraine and donated to Democrat causes.
DeSantis was in the running to be the Republican nominee, but was overshadowed by Trump.
He has since endorsed Trump and shown support for his candidacy. Florida has voted Republican in the last few presidential elections after increasing its Republican voter registration.
Trump was on the fifth hole when Routh was discovered by the Secret Service.
Although the previous assassination attempt on Trump exposed numerous Secret Service failures, this one seems to have been handled better even though the detail was not as robust as it would have been if Trump were president.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw made it clear that if Trump were protected the same way as a president, the entire perimeter around the golf course would have been secured.
Members of Congress from both parties as well as the editorial board of the Washington Post called for Trump to get the same Secret Service protection as a sitting president due to the multiple attempts on his life.
“Two assassination attempts in 60 days on a former President & the Republican nominee is unacceptable,” tweeted Rep. Ro Khanna (D).
