Suspect in Trump assassination attempt may have lain in wait for 12 hours
Ryan W Routh, the 58-year-old man suspected of planning to assassinate Donald Trump, has been charged with two gun-related crimes in federal court a day after being spotted with a rifle on the perimeter of the former United States president’s golf course in Florida. Phone records suggest the suspect may have been lying in wait for nearly 12 hours, hiding in the bushes with a loaded SKS semi-automatic rifle, according to court documents filed on Monday. Routh, who appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, did not fire any shots and never had Trump in his line of sight, the Secret Service said. “The FBI is conducting its investigation of this incident as an assassination attempt upon the former president,” the US Attorney for the Southen District of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, told a press conference on Monday afternoon. Routh was arrested on Sunday after allegedly fleeing the crime scene and is being held in custody on charges of illegally possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. US Secret Service agents stationed on the golf course ahead of Trump opened fire on the suspect after they noticed the muzzle of a rifle sticking through a fence that lines the course. The gunman fled in an SUV, leaving behind the rifle, which was fitted with a scope, as well as two backpacks and a GoPro camera, according to police. The man was stopped soon after by heavily armed law enforcement officers on Interstate 95, a busy highway in a neighbouring county, and put up no resistance. Police say the licence plate on his vehicle had been reported stolen from another car. Second assassination attempt in two months Trump is scheduled to unveil a new cryptocurrency business on X on Monday night at his private Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, where he lives, before resuming his presidential campaign for events in Michigan on Tuesday and New York on Wednesday. The incident has raised new questions about the violent nature of US politics and how an armed suspect was able to get so close to Trump, just two months after another gunman fired at him during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear with a bullet. Trump’s personal schedule is not made public, so investigators will be trying to find out how the gunman knew of his golfing plans. However, the Republican presidential nominee is an ardent golfer and it is no secret that he likes to fit in a round whenever he is visiting his Florida home. The Secret Service, which protects US presidents and presidential candidates, has been under intense scrutiny since the botched handling of the July attempt on Trump’s life. The service bolstered Trump’s security detail following the July 13 attack, in which the gunman was shot dead by responding agents. Trump was also due to meet the new head of the Secret Service in person on Monday after the former chief resigned in the wake of the July shooting. Trump posted a message on social media on Sunday thanking the Secret Service and law enforcement for keeping him safe, calling them “brave and dedicated Patriots” and adding that it was “certainly an interesting day!” He also blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, for the apparent assassination attempt. He claimed the suspected gunman was acting on Democrats’ “highly inflammatory language,” though authorities have not yet offered evidence of any motive. Biden and Harris were briefed on the matter and each issued a statement condemning political violence. Harris added that she was “deeply disturbed” by the day’s events and that “we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence”. Biden said he had directed his team to ensure the Secret Service “has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.” Police officers stand outside the court, ahead of a possible planned appearance for Ryan W Routh, the suspect in an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, in West Palm Beach, Florida, September 16, 2024 [Marco Bello Reuters] Searching for clues Routh has at least two prior felony convictions, both in North Carolina, according to court records. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered fully automatic gun, according to the county district attorney’s office, and was sentenced to probation. He was also convicted of possessing stolen goods in 2010. The FBI is likely combing through Routh’s prolific social media posts searching for clues regarding his alleged planning of the crime and his motive for wanting to kill the president. Records show Routh lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Hawaii in 2018. In 2020, he made a social media post backing Trump’s re-election, but in more recent years, his posts have expressed support for Biden and Harris. Routh is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and travelled there after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, seeking to recruit foreign fighters, according to an interview with The New York Times last year. Ukrainian officials distanced themselves from Routh on Monday and The International Legion, where many foreign fighters in Ukraine serve, said it had no links with Routh. Profiles on X, Facebook and LinkedIn with Routh’s name contained messages of support for Ukraine as well as statements describing Trump as a threat to US democracy. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 935
As the war enters its 935th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. Fighting At least one person was injured and several homes damaged in a Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s Kyiv region, Governor Ruslan Kravchenko said. Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down 53 of the 56 Russian drones that targeted the country’s central, northern and southern regions. Air defence units destroyed nearly 20 drones that were heading towards Kyiv itself, the military said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, said there had been 100 battles over the past 24 hours on the eastern front with the heaviest fighting in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove sectors. Russia ordered the evacuation of settlements close to the Ukrainian border in the Kursk region and said it had retaken two villages – Uspenovka and Borki – Ukraine captured last month in a surprise cross-border incursion. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha invited the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the parts of Kursk it occupies to “prove [Ukraine’s] adherence to international humanitarian law”. The Kremlin said the move was a “provocation”. Politics and diplomacy Laurent Vinatier, a 48-year-old French researcher arrested in Russia on charges of unlawfully collecting military information, pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial in Moscow. Russian state media said the guilty plea could mean a reduced sentence of about three years. Vinatier was arrested in June. France says he has been arbitrarily detained and has called for his immediate release. French citizen Laurent Vinatier was arrested in June [Dmitry Serebryakov/AP Photo] The US Attorney’s office in Boston said it had charged Sam Bhambhani and Maxim Teslenko with illegal smuggling and conspiring to violate export controls by selling equipment to Russia’s nuclear energy industry. Bhambhani was arrested on September 9 and released following a court appearance. Moscow-based Teslenko remains at large overseas. Ukraine added Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, the director of a controversial war documentary, to its national security blacklist. Ukraine says her film Russians at War, which features interviews with soldiers fighting on the front line in Ukraine, spread “Russian propaganda” about Moscow’s invasion. Russia charged two more military officers with taking bribes, investigators said on Monday, the latest in a string of arrests linked to alleged corruption in the Ministry of Defence. Weapons Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said that his government had not transferred any weapons to Russia since it took office in August. The United States and its allies accused Iran last week of transferring ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine. Outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he welcomed talks on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike military targets inside Russian territory, but any decision on the weapons’ use would have to be made by countries individually. Adblock test (Why?)
India’s first Namo Bharat Rapid Rail to start services today, all you need to know
The Namo Bharat Rapid Rail, modeled on the Vande Bharat platform, aims to bring short-distance inter-city travel to the common man with modern amenities and safety features
Schools, colleges closed today in this state due to PM Modi’s visit, classes to resume on…
The Chief Minister’s Office of Odisha issued an official order regarding this.
New poll indicates whether Harris or Trump has the edge in the most important battleground
A new poll conducted entirely after last week’s debate indicates Vice President Kamala Harris holding a three-point edge over former President Trump in Pennsylvania, which is arguably the most crucial of the seven key general election battleground states. Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, is ahead of Trump, the GOP nominee, 49%-46% among likely voters in Pennsylvania, according to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll conducted Wednesday through Saturday (Sept. 11-14). The vice president’s advantage over the former president among the 500 respondents is within the poll’s margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. HEAD HERE FOR FOX NEWS UPDATES ON THE SECOND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON TRUMP The survey was conducted before Sunday’s second assassination attempt against Trump. And the poll was released on Monday, which marks 50 days until Election Day on November 5. Both Harris and Trump have repeatedly made stops this summer in Pennsylvania, which along with Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada, had razor-thin margins that decided the outcome of the 2020 election between Trump and President Biden. And the seven states will likely determine whether Harris or Trump wins the 2024 presidential election. HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN ROCKED AGAIN, WITH 50 DAYS TO GO UNTIL ELECTION But with 19 electoral votes at stake, Pennsylvania’s the biggest of the key battlegrounds. And while the campaigns and their allied super PACs are pouring resources into all seven states, more money has been spent to run spots in Pennsylvania than any of the other battlegrounds. And both sides have dished out more dollars to reserve airtime going forward in the Keystone State than any of the other swing states, according to figures from AdImpact, a top national ad tracking firm. Pennsylvania, along with Michigan and Wisconsin, are the three Rust Belt states that make up the Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall.” The party reliably won all three states for a quarter-century before Trump narrowly captured them in the 2016 election to win the White House. Four years later, in 2020, Biden carried all three states by razor-thin margins to put them back in the Democrats’ column and defeated Trump. WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE SHOW In addition to her statewide edge over Trump, two separate USA Today/Suffolk University surveys conducted post-debate in Erie and Northampton counties – two bellwethers that have historically predicted which presidential candidate carries Pennsylvania – indicate the vice president ahead by mid-single digits. All three surveys indicated that a widening gender gap that benefits Harris is fueling her overall advantage over Trump. In the statewide survey, Harris tops Trump by 17 points among female voters while the former president leads the vice president by a slimmer 12 points among men. Harris had even wider leads among women in Erie and Northampton counties. “This is female-gender advantage on steroids,” Suffolk University Political Research director Dave Paleologos told Fox News. “In all three data sets, the women margin is around almost twice Trump’s edge among men.” The USA Today/Suffolk survey is the first conducted in Pennsylvania following the debate, which was held in Philadelphia. A CBS News survey in the field in early September, in the week before the debate, indicated a tied race in the Keystone State. “It’s the one state that it’s hard to see someone losing and then still winning the presidential race,” Mark Harris, Pittsburgh-based longtime Republican national strategist and ad maker, told Fox News Digital earlier this month. “It’s clearly ground zero.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
UT-Austin tightens automatic admission threshold to 5% of Texas’ top high schoolers
The current threshold is 6%. The change comes after the university received a record-breaking 73,000 undergraduate applications for this fall.
Legal experts warn that latest Supreme Court leaks are ‘enormously destructive’
Following revelations of private memoranda and conversations between Supreme Court justices published in the New York Times, legal experts are warning that such sensitive leaks are “destructive” to the high court. The New York Times reported that internal memos and deliberations that they claimed showed Chief Justice Thomas as having “molded” the outcomes of three major cases the court considered dealing with Jan. 6 rioters, and granting former President Donald Trump certain immunity for presidential acts. Roberts wrote the majority in the decisions, and the report claims that he “provided crucial support for hearing the historic [immunity],’ and made last minute and unexplained changes to authorship of the politically charged opinions. The leak follows the unprecedented leaked draft of the Dobbs opinion which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and a concerted effort by Democratic lawmakers and the Biden administration to make sweeping changes to the court and ethics enforcement. TRIAL ON USING RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS IN THE NAVAL ACADEMY KICKS OFF IN CRUSADE AGAINST AFFIRMATIVE ACTION Republican lawmakers, such as Senators Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and John Kennedy, R-La., claim those efforts are politically motivated to delegitimize one the court now sits with a majority of Republican-appointed justices. Some legal experts say this latest leak is part of that effort to undermine the Supreme Court. “I think it’s enormously destructive to the court when people inside the court disclose to the press confidential memoranda, confidential emails and what appears to even be remarks made at the justices’ conference,” James Burnham of King Street Legal and former senior Justice Department official told Fox News Digital. NAVY LAUNCHES FIRST SUBMARINE BUILT FOR BOTH GENDERS “It’s destructive because the justices can’t be candid with each other if they think that anything they say could end up in the New York Times. And that means they’re going to speak less to each other. It means they’re not going to be able to deliberate with the same openness that they historically have, and it ultimately undermines the court’s decision making,” he added. “It reads to me like somebody is trying to cast a negative light on the Chief Justice and the other justices in the majority for what I think was a plainly correct and brave decision,” he said. Carrie Seveino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, said that “if there is someone on the Court who deserves censure for being overly political in this case, it’s the individual who leaked” the “highly confidential internal” documents. She added that the incident “is of a piece with the continued left-wing PR campaign against the Court.” WINERY, BREWERY, BAGEL SHOP TEAM UP TO CALL OUT BERKELEY’S PERMISSIVENESS OF HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS “It’s an attempt to smear the Court as an institution, and as part of that, some justices have been targeted more than others,” she said. John Shu, a constitutional attorney who served in both Bush administrations, Shu says he believes the leaks are politically motivated, and are most likely designed to keep Roberts anchored in the center or perhaps push him towards center-left in the upcoming term, especially if Trump is elected this November. “Because he is the Chief Justice, he gets to assign opinions when he’s in the majority, which is much of the time, and he has administrative power that the other justices do not have,” said Shu. “And much like the President is the embodiment of Article 2, the Chief Justice is the embodiment of Article 3.” “It’s really scary that yet another norm has been shattered, violating the sacred confidentiality of deliberations and the opinion drafting process,”Shu said.
GOP governor takes aggressive action against bloodthirsty Venezuelan street gang: ‘Growing threat’
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced new actions the Lonestar state is taking against Tren de Aragua — a violent Venezuelan gang that has been causing havoc in multiple states across the United States. Abbott announced that he is declaring the gang a foreign terrorist organization and establishing a database to verify if arrests being made are TdA members or not. “We will bring the full weight of the government against the TdA,” Abbott said. “By declaring TdA a foreign terrorist organization, Texas will use the courts to halt their operations, use civil asset forfeiture to take the property and use enhanced criminal penalties to keep them in jail behind bars for longer periods of time.” BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN STREET GANG SPARKS FEAR IN US AMID MIGRANT SURGE: WHAT TO KNOW The gang is believed to have originated in Venezuelan prisons and moved north over the last decade. But its reputation within the U.S. has grown this year, in part due to a number of high-profile crimes linked to the gang, with many believed to have arrived by coming across the southern border as part of the sharp increase in migration in recent years. Border officials told Fox recently they are targeting the gang as a priority, and officials in Dallas told Fox that they have seen gang activity in the north Dallas area linked to TdA. The gang hit the headlines over reports of a takeover of apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS Fox News Digital reported in July that TdA members have been given a “green light” to fire on or attack law enforcement in Denver. The Biden administration designated the group a “significant transnational criminal organization” in July and offered up to $12 million for information leading to the arrest of three of its leaders. Abbott said that the database being created would look at common characteristics of gang members, including tattoos, scars, types of crime and methods of operation. Abbott had already launched a statewide operation to deter and disrupt the gang, and said that now there are nine anti-gang centers across the state, with more than $100 million in funding. Recently, a hotel in El Paso where TdA were active has been shut down. AFTER VIDEO OF ARMED VENEZUELAN GANG SHARED BY LOCAL OFFICIAL GOES VIRAL, COLORADO CITY TAKES ACTION He also noted more than 100 gang members were arrested during a riot at the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso earlier this year. On Tuesday, he said that strike teams were being formed to surge resources to areas where gang members are believed to be working. “Our goal among law enforcement in the state of Texas is to defend our state from the growing threat of TdA,” he said. “We are not going to allow them to use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens. Texas is a law and order state, and I will ensure that law enforcement has every tool they need to keep our community safe.”
Fox News Politics: ‘Highly Inflammatory’
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest political news from Washington, D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. Here’s what’s happening… – Democratic congressman demands expansion of Trump’s security perimeter – Security experts weigh in on risk to Trump after second assassination attempt – Democrats pour $25 million into Senate races EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said President Biden and Vice President Harris’ “rhetoric” is what is causing him to be “shot at,” following the second assassination attempt against him since July, while telling Fox News Digital that the suspected gunman “acted” on “highly inflammatory language” of Democrats. Trump spoke exclusively with Fox News Digital Monday morning, just a day after he was rushed off of the golf course at Trump International in West Palm Beach, Fla., after the Secret Service discovered a gunman in the bushes. The suspected gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, had an AK-47 style rifle pointing through the chain-link fence out toward the green; a go-pro camera; and two backpacks. He ran from the scene but was pulled over and arrested on I-95. Authorities are treating the episode as an apparent assassination attempt against Trump. Trump was safe following the second assassination attempt against him since July….Read more SACRED LAND: Apache tribe takes fight with federal government, copper producers to Supreme Court …Read more ‘UNACCEPTABLE’: Dem rep demands Secret Service expand Trump protective perimeter …Read more CLOSE CALL: Security, military experts weigh in on danger to Trump in latest attempt on his life …Read more ‘HIGHLY DAMAGING’: Whistleblower allegations on first Trump assassination attempt ‘highly damaging’ to Secret Service: Hawley …Read more PAPER TRAIL: Suspect in second Trump attempted assassination has lengthy pro-Ukraine paper trail …Read more ‘BURNT OUT’: Secret Service ‘redlined,’ Pennsylvania task force says after assassination plot …Read more WEIRD RESPONSE: Trump assassination attempt suspect laughs, smiles during first court appearance in Florida …Read more ‘WE MUST STOP THEM: House Dem leader slammed ‘extreme MAGA’ GOP amid news of Trump assassination attempt …Read more ‘NO JOKE’: Vulnerable Dem blasted for blaming ‘fearmongering’ as top issue related to border crime …Read more ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST’: Tammy Baldwin faces scrutiny over partner’s Wall Street gig …Read more ‘END THE MIGRANT INVASION’: Trump reveals new pledge amid Haitian refugee controversy …Read more BIG SPENDER: Dems pour $25M into ground game as GOP inches closer to Senate majority …Read more HIGH STAKES MEETING: Harris eyes endorsement in high-stakes meeting with only major union that hasn’t endorsed her campaign …Read more FINAL COUNTDOWN: Harris-Trump race rocked by second assassination attempt with 50 days until election …Read more ‘LIVELIHOODS’ AT STAKE: ‘Auto Workers for Trump’ says union support ballooning …Read more ‘POLITICAL PERSECUTION’: America First Legal sues Manhattan DA’s office for records related to Trump prosecution …Read more AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: Trial on using race-based admissions in the Naval Academy kicks off …Read more Subscribe now to get the Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Republicans plan to confront Biden’s small business chief on electioneering concerns, loan forgiveness
EXCLUSIVE: At a scheduled House hearing on Wednesday, Republicans plan to grill Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman over what they have characterized as the agency’s behavior in regard to claims of taxpayer-funded electioneering in swing-state Michigan. GOP Texas Rep. Roger Williams, chair of the House Small Business Committee, said Monday that Guzman will be asked directly about alleged agency efforts to register voters in Democrat-heavy precincts of the Wolverine State. “The Small Business Administration has lacked transparency and stonewalled committee oversight at every turn,” Williams said. “The administrator must answer directly to our members about what we are hearing from our constituents back home, particularly about why small business concerns are being ignored within the Biden-Harris administration …” WATCHDOG GROUP SUES FEDS FOR RECORDS AS LAWMAKER CALLS VOTER REGISTRATION EFFORTS A ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’ Williams and his Senate counterpart, Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, began demanding documents and other information in May over what the SBA had called its “first-ever” voter registration agreement with Michigan officials. The SBA in March had forged a memorandum of understanding with the Michigan Department of State, pursuant to President Biden’s Executive Order 14019, which promotes access to voting. Since then, Williams and committee Republicans have been demanding information, including documents and travel schedules of top agency officials. The letter from the two lawmakers also cited Guzman as the “most-traveled” Cabinet member. To date, the committee has said SBA’s compliance has been markedly insufficient, with lawmakers claiming the agency has “slow-rolled … and wasted time producing documents that were either nonresponsive to the Committee’s requests or duplicative.” The agency is “diverting its resources away from assisting Main Street so it can register Democratic voters,” Williams said. In August, an SBA spokesperson argued that the agency has provided “extensive testimony, briefings, transcribed interviews, documents and other information in response to congressional inquires, including the Committee’s most recent subpoena.” HOUSE COMMITTEE DEMANDS BIDEN AGENCY REVEAL STAFF TRAVEL HISTORIES AMID ELECTIONEERING ALLEGATIONS “We are continuing the work to fulfill the subpoena beyond our initial document production. Any suggestion that the agency is conducting improper work or that its response has been anything other than cooperative is simply not true,” the spokesperson added. Democrats on the panel, meanwhile, have dismissed the majority’s demands and said their behavior tarnishes the panel’s record. The House Small Business Committee has otherwise “prided itself in bipartisan cooperation to help American entrepreneurs,” ranking member Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital in June. “Unfortunately, with [these] subpoenas, Republicans have rejected these principles to pursue a partisan inquiry,” Velazquez said. However, others have countered that Democrats are politicizing the committee, as a source with knowledge of the committee’s work pointed to at least five derogatory mentions of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 in the committee’s last session. Velazquez and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., had invoked the conservative advocacy group’s work to rebut Republican amendments aimed at reducing regulatory burdens on small business. KEY BIDEN AGENCY SLAPPED WITH HISTORIC SUBPOENAS OVER ‘IMPROPER’ SWING-STATE VOTER REGISTRATION PUSH Democrats have sought to link Republican officeholders and former President Trump to Project 2025 as a form of criticism. While several of Trump’s former Cabinet secretaries and top White House senior aides are authors of the project, Trump has denied having any connection to it. Williams said that instead of voter registration in Michigan or other related concerns, the SBA should focus on its founding mission. “The American taxpayers deserve to know the truth about who the SBA is truly working for, because the last few years have been a disaster for Main Street America,” he said Monday. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital has also learned the committee will question Guzman on the agency’s reported decision to end active collection of COVID-era small business loans under $100,000 while the agency saw billions of loan dollars accidentally go to fraudulent concerns. The committee also plans to address Vice President Harris’ small business tax deduction proposals and how witnesses may believe it meshes with potential plans to allow a current 20% small business tax deduction to expire.