There was another assassination attempt on President Donald Trump on September 15, 2024, at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. The assassin’s muzzle was spotted sticking through the fence and officers protecting the president opened fire. The would-be assassin fled in a black SUV. An onlooker managed to capture a photo of the license plate. That SUV was later pulled over in Martin County and the driver of the vehicle was arrested.
The driver of the SUV, Ryan Wesley Routh, had interesting finances. He says he makes $3000 a month and owns two trucks worth $1000 a piece. He lives in Hawaii in the town of Kaaawa on the island of Oahu in a house valued around $890,000. The rent and utilities on that house would most likely be more than $3000 a month. According to the NY Post, his girlfriend works in a local hardware store, so it seems unlikely she was paying for their house. The cost of food and other living expenses in Hawaii are high. He flew to the Ukraine and traveled around. He flew from Hawaii to Florida for the assassination. It seems he must have had other sources of income.
This is the third time that President Donald Trump has faced an assassination attempt or credible threat in slightly over two months. There was the assassination attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks at a Trump Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where President Trump was shot in the ear and a supporter was killed.
There was the Arizona incident where Cochise County resident Ronald Lee Syvrud had posted on social media about killing President Trump when he visited the border in Cochise County with a plan of how it could be accomplished. Later in the post, he said he was joking or not. The police asked for the public’s help in finding the individual. The following day, Trump interrupted a NewsNation interviewer in Cochise County to tell them that they had to end the interview as they were not safe. Police later announced the arrest of Mr. Syvrud in Cochise County hours after the interview.
This string of attempts on President Trump is not unique in our history. We have had assassinations and attempts in our nation’s history. President John F and Presidential Candidate Bobby Kennedy were killed and President Roland Reagan was shot. We had a Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln was killed. We have had a relatively civil period following the Reagan assassination attempt.
This civility seems to be waning. There is much less talk of policy and more emotional appeals. There are more attacks on supporters; for instance, opponents of President Trump have called his supporters deplorable, bigots, and racists.
We need to return to a discussion of policy. We need defined and understood terms so people can discuss politics without being reduced to anger by the frustration of not being able to agree on the meaning of words. The media can help with this by explaining the basics of the issues so that most people at least agree on what they are talking about. Once the basics have been established, it is possible for reasonable people to discuss an issue. Without this groundwork reasonable discussions are very difficult.
Rocco Maglio is the co-Publisher of Hernando Sun.
