How Secret Service Blunders Made Donald Trump 'Sitting Duck' for Golf Club Assassination
Donald Trump's Secret Service detail has left him vulnerable twice in the last three months.
Donald Trump is lucky to be alive after yet another display of his Secret Service detail's ineptitude.
And RadarOnline.com can reveal security experts say the agency's failures are making the former president a sitting duck for would-be assassins.
The revelations come just 67 days after the first attempt on Trump's life at a rally in Pennsylvania – and less than one month since the arrest of suspected shooter Ryan Wesley Routh.
Routh, 58, is accused of hiding in bushes while waiting for a clear shot at the 78-year-old former president while he played golf at his West Palm Beach golf course.
A former Secret Service member said: "It's really incredible that this lunatic was able to get so close to Trump on his own golf course, especially considering what just happened in Pennsylvania.
Trump's ear was struck in the first attempt on his life, while Secret Service agents spotted main suspect Ryan Routh before he could take a shot at the former president.
"Considering the fact the would-be shooter was in the area for 12 hours leading up to the incident, the Secret Service should have been able to detect him with any one of the multiple perimeter sweeps you would expect them to perform if Trump were playing the course."
Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. admitted the golf course was never searched before Trump began his round on Sept. 14 because it was "not part of our usual schedule".
The source continued: "If you're on the golf course, you already know Trump is a target, so why weren't more agents assigned to drones? Why aren't there more eyes overhead? It's inexcusable.
Routh was taken into custody on September 15 and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number one day later.
"The Secret Service deserves all the scorn in the world for permitting this to happen again.
"Let's face it. Trump's own golf course should be one of the most secure places on Earth right now, but instead, some maniac was able to set up shop and linger in the area with a high-powered rifle for hours. It's mind-boggling."
Trump praised the Secret Service for doing a "great job" following the incident before adding he "does need more people" on his detail.
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Routh is accused of posting up in a bush at Trump's Florida golf course with a Soviet-designed SKS assault rifle.
North Carolina native Routh was allegedly hiding in a thicket of shrubs on the public side of a fence protecting the ninth hole of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Routh was said to be spotted by an eagle-eyed agent stationed one hole ahead of Trump who saw the muzzle of an AK-47-style rifle peeking through the leaves.
The agent opened fire, forcing the gunman to leave his hiding spot before he got a chance to take a shot at the GOP presidential nominee 400 yards away.
Routh was eventually arrested a short time later more than 40 miles north from the scene of the incident.
The Senate committee tasked with investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump by Matthew Thomas Crooks at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania recently released its report.
The close call comes a little more than two months after Secret Service agents were blamed for allowing Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, to take shots at Trump that grazed his ear, killed volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounded two others.
In Crooks' case, more than 20 minutes passed between the time he was spotted by Secret Service agents on a nearby roof and when he opened fire.
Following the incident, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned amid questions from critics about the agency's ability to protect candidates and their families.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat and member of the congressional task force now investigating both assassination attempts, said: "This is getting embarrassing for the agency, and people in Congress are bewildered why we're in this situation now for a second time."
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