By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
The second attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump in as many months on Sunday drew the ire and well-wishes by many on the political right in Colorado.
“I’m glad President Trump was OK, and I’m thankful for the law enforcement that have detained the shooter,” Gabe Evans, the Republican nominee for the 8th Congressional District, wrote on Twitter/X.
Mr. Trump was five holes into a golf round at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Fla., when the muzzle of a long gun was noticed through the shrubbery, about 400 yards away, according to media reports. Though initially described as an AK-47 rifle, court documents Fox News reviewed detail the long gun was an SKS-style long gun. On Fox News, Sen. Lindsey Graham received a call from Mr. Trump and reported him saying: “I was 2-under through 5.”
Mr. Trump just last week appeared in a debate with his general election opponent for president, Kamala Harris, and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert noted his position in Twitter/X comments.
“Trump takes a lead in the polls and someone tries to assassinate him … again,” she wrote. “The desperation to keep this man from being President again is exactly why I’m voting for him.”
Boebert is seeking to become the 4th District’s representative in Congress. Greg Lopez, who will hold the position through the end of the year, offered his thoughts: “Sending prayers to President Trump tonight. May God watch over him and his family.”
The first assassination attempt on Mr. Trump was in July in Butler, Penn., when a shooter on a rooftop about 150 yards away from a Trump campaign rally shot at Mr. Trump, piercing his ear.
“There were gunshots in my vicinity,” Mr. Trump wrote in a statement. “I am safe and well!”
State Rep. Ryan Armagost termed a second assassination attempt on Mr. Trump “unreal” in a Tweet in which he criticized state Democratic policy that he says leads to violent targeting “by those that oppose us.”
“Nothing will slow me down,” Mr. Trump wrote in a statement. “I will never surrender.”
The Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump, of which U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, is the ranking member, released the following statement: “The Task Force is monitoring this attempted assassination of former President Trump in West Palm Beach this afternoon. We have requested a briefing with the U.S. Secret Service about what happened and how security responded.”
The Task Force, along with others across the political spectrum, noted their pleasure the former President “was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence.”
A witness to the shooting noted the license plate of the vehicle in which the shooter was attempting to escape and reported it to police, allowing law enforcement to capture the suspect. Ryan Wesley Routh appeared in court Monday on charges related to the assassination attempt. He will be formally arraigned Sept. 30, Fox News reported. As a result of the assassination attempt, he could face fines of $500,000 and up to 20 years imprisonment, if found guilty.