‘The people deserve the truth’: DeSantis vows Florida will do own investigation of 2nd Trump assassination attempt

*Editor’s Note: This article has been updated since publication to reflect that Erik Prince was the founder of Blackwater, not BlackRock.

Just as many predicted, there was a second attempt on Sunday to assassinate former President Donald Trump, this one being foiled before the would-be killer could get a round off.

The 2024 Republican nominee was playing golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, when the suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, was spotted 300-500 yards away by the Secret Service, who fired on him after seeing the muzzle of an AK-47 pointing through a chain-link fence one hole ahead of where Trump was playing — the suspect fled the scene and was arrested on I-95 a short time later.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) responded to the incident by announcing on X that the state of Florida would be conducting its own investigation, which was welcomed with a sigh of relief from those who have no faith in the federal government conducting a fair and honest investigation of its own,

“The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club. The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee,” DeSantis posted.

Routh has reportedly echoed the same anti-Trump rhetoric about saving democracy seen frequently from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamal Harris. He is also a strong supporter of the war in Ukraine, according to reports.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) blasted the Secret Service and other authorities for not securing the area around Trump during an appearance on Fox News.

“There is no way in hell that somebody should have been that close to President Trump with an AK Steel or AK-47 or whatever it was with a scope,” he said.

The announcement from DeSantis followed a post from Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL and the founder of Blackwater — he sold it to a group of investors in 2010.

Prince beseeched the governor to “assume direct control” of the investigation, charging that the federal investigation into the first attempt on Trump’s life has been botched.

“Please assume direct control of the investigation into this attempted assassination of DJT,” he posted. “Tell the Feds to wait in line until Florida resources have done a thorough and transparent look into all the evidence. The Feds have dropped the ball thoroughly on Butler PA. Time for Florida to save the day especially since this attempt happened only 300m from the State Forensics Lab.”

In a follow to the governor’s post, Prince added: “Be sure to collect a complete copy of all electronic, AD ID and link analysis of the would be assassin.”

Appearing on The Benny Show, Prince went even further, “I would not even turn that guy over to the Feds until he has been thoroughly investigated, interrogated by the state and local authorities.”

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:

Tom Tillison

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