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Former president Donald Trump is safe after what the FBI is investigating as a potential assassination attempt against him in Florida, the second against the Republican presidential candidate in two months.
Trump released a statement on Sunday afternoon declaring: “FEAR NOT! I am safe and well, and no one was hurt. Thank God!”
The FBI said it “responded to West Palm Beach, Florida, and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former president Trump”.
The candidate’s campaign had earlier released a statement saying Trump was safe after “gunshots in his vicinity”.
Law enforcement officials have detained a man who they said was hiding in shrubbery bordering the Trump International Golf Club on Sunday afternoon. They found an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks containing ceramic tile and a GoPro camera in the bushes, Ric Bradshaw, Palm Beach County Sheriff, told reporters on Sunday.
Secret Service agents opened fire on the man after spotting a rifle through the golf course’s fence, said a Secret Service official. A witness saw the potential suspect run out of the bushes before jumping into a car and driving away. Law enforcement officers later pulled the vehicle over and detained the man, Bradshaw said.
Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami field office, said the agency had deployed resources including bomb technicians and investigative teams.
Florida state prosecutors were in the process of putting together warrants and a motion for pre-trial detention for the suspect, said Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach county, adding state charges would not prevent potential federal charges.
If confirmed as an assassination attempt, the incident in Florida would mark the second time that Trump has been targeted by a gunman in two months. He was injured in an attempted assassination at an election rally in Pennsylvania in July.
The representative for the Secret Service on Sunday said it had “increased the amount of assets” since the Pennsylvania incident, for which the agency has been fiercely criticised.
“The threat level is high,” said the Secret Service official.
Trump’s Democratic opponent, vice-president Kamala Harris, posted on X: “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.”
The White House said US President Joe Biden and the vice-president “have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former president Trump was golfing. They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team.”
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