Overview

The September 2024 Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump refers to an attempt on former President Donald Trump's life at the Trump International Golf Course near Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida. The shooter reportedly inserted a rifle through the grated gate of the golf club and pointed it at Trump before he was spotted in the treeline by a Secret Service agent, who opened fire on him. The man was later identified as 58-year-old Ryan Welsey Routh of Hawaii. The event marks the second time a shooter has attempted to assassinate Trump ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election between him and Vice President Kamala Harris after a previous shooting occurred at a Trump Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania two months prior. As word spread of the assassination attempt online, many internet users were split on the political motivations behind the shooting given Ryan Routh's contradictory political positions as discerned from his online history. As with the attempt in Pennsylvania, the incident quickly became a viral topic on social media and dominated international headlines, inspiring discourse, memes and other content.

Background

Donald Trump was golfing at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida on September 15th, 2024, and was between the fifth and the seventh hole when the attempted shooting occurred. At roughly 1:30 p.m. local time, a Secret Service agent trailing ahead of Trump to secure the area spotted a man with a rifle and scope in the tree line and fired in his direction, with Trump standing 300 to 500 yards away from him.^[1] The suspect then fled the scene in a black Nissan and was eventually apprehended nearly 40 miles away from the gold course going north on Interstate 95.

These facts were relayed by Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw in a news conference on Sunday evening.^[2] While the golf course was briefly locked down after the shooting attempt, no deaths or injuries were reported during the incident and no shots were fired by the suspect.

Also on September 15th, 2024, the FBI announced that they were officially taking over the investigation after classifying the incident as another assassination attempt on the former President's life.^[11]

Initially, local authorities at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office identified the weapon used by the shooter as an "AK-47-style rifle," which was then reported by numerous media outlets and spread online. However, according to a firearms expert who spoke to The Washington Post,^[14] this was later corrected and identified as an "SKS-type rifle" with a polymer stock fitted with an AK-inspired magazine for 7.62mm cartridges.

Additionally, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the suspect attempted to use two backpacks filled with ceramic tiles "to have a body armor-type thing hanging on the fence," which were found alongside a GoPro camera at the scene.^[15]

Developments

Shooter Identity

The shooter was identified by CNN, Fox News and The New York Times as 58-year-old Hawaii resident Ryan Wesley Routh on Sunday, September 15th, 2024.

Routh has an online history indicating that he was deeply invested in the war in Ukraine, with video and paper interviews by Newsweek and the New York Times documenting his attempts to Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban into Ukraine's war efforts. It is unclear and unlikely that Routh ever managed to contribute to Ukraine's war in a significant manner.

Routh's social media profiles also indicate his political ambivalence, with posts showing his support for politicians across both parties. Routh tweeted favorably about Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Joe Biden, and at one point, Bernie Sanders. However, Routh has repeatedly made posts critical of Trump online.

Response From Donald Trump

Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social^[13] account on Sunday, September 15th, saying he "certainly had an interesting day." He thanked his followers for their concern, thanked law enforcement for keeping him safe, and signed off his post by saying that he is proud to be an American.

Online Reactions

News coverage surrounding the attempted assassination of Donald Trump quickly spread on September 15th, 2024, generating significant reactions from social media users across the internet. That same day, the news was reposted to Reddit's^[3][4] /r/news and /r/politics subreddits, where it gathered over 20,000 and 7,000 upvotes, respectively, in less than a day.

Some internet users noted how they felt that the event received less media attention than the previous Trump shooting, with X^[10] user @biggestjoel writing, "My Twitter feed isn’t even all trumped out by the assassination attempt. Are ppl just bored by the concept of additional people trying to kill Trump," on September 15th and gathering over 14,000 likes in a day.

Also on September 15th, 2024, X^[12] user @hunter_hhhh posted a meme that read, "Republicans when they have to shoot Donald Trump because they're bored," gathering over 140,000 likes with the caption "0-2."

On September 15th, 2024, an anonymous 4chan user made a post likening Routh to the Coomer wojak, with a repost to /r/greentext^[16] gathering over 9,000 upvotes in a day.

Also on September 15th, 2024, Redditor /u/OuiCroissantBaguette posted a meme to /r/dankmemes^[17] comparing "Americans in schools" to "Americains [sic] with Trump," using images of Bart Simpson aiming with a scope and walking around blind. The post gathered over 4,000 upvotes in a day.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's Response

In a written statement issued on Sunday,^[18] September 15th, 2024, Joe Biden condemned the attack on Donald Trump and thanked the Secret Service for keeping him safe. He added, "There is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability, and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety."

Also on September 15th, Kamala Harris made a post to X, writing, "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 post gathered over 100,000 likes in a day.

Elon Musk's 'No One Is Even Trying To Assassinate Biden / Kamala' Tweet

On September 15th, 2024, Elon Musk^[5] quoted an @DogeDesigner tweet asking, "Why they want to kill Donald Trump," by writing, "And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden / Kamala." The post gathered over 140,000 likes before Musk deleted the post.

Early on September 16th, Musk wrote, "Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text," and gathered over 29,000 likes in two hours.^[6] He also wrote, "Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all that hilarious as a post on 𝕏," gathering over 30,000 likes in two hours.^[7]

In the following days, Elon Musk was strongly criticized for his tweet about no one trying to assassinate "Biden / Kamala," with Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker ^[8] writing, "this is a defense contractor @FBI @SecretService @CIA," and X^[9] user @BMeiselas writing, "Ok this requires an IMMEDIATE visit by the secret service and federal charges. Lock this guy up. This is so dangerous," gathering over 100,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References