TRANSCRIPT
It's been the second apparent assassination attempt on the life of former US President Donald Trump.
The first occurred on July 13th, during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
On Sunday, the second alleged attempt took place at the former president's golf course in Florida.
The FBI charged 58 year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, with two weapons-related offenses, a day after the suspect was seen with a rifle hidden in the bushes for 12 hours.
The incident sparked concerns about the safety of the US presidential candidates.
American President Joe Biden says he will not accept any kind of political violence.
"There is no place for political violence in America. None. Zero. Never. I've always condemned political violence and I always will. In America, we resolve our differences peacefully at the ballot box, not at the end of a gun. America suffered too many times, the tragedy of an assassin's bullet. It solves nothing and just tears the country apart. We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen."
More charges against Routh seem likely, but the initial accusations - of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number - will allow authorities to keep him in custody while the investigation continues.
Florida Attorney General Mark LaPointe explains the charges.
"According to the allegations in the complaint, a US Secret Service agent walking the golf course perimeter saw what appeared to be a rifle poking out of the tree line after the agent fired or serve his weapon in the direction of the rifle. A witness saw a man later identified as Ralph fleeing the area in the tree line. Ralph was later apprehended by officers. According to the complaint, Roth was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December, 2002 and March, 2010."
Still, the authorities don't know if Routh was acting alone
Jeffrey Veltri is the special agent in charge of the FBI Miami Field Office.
"At this point, we're still exploring that, investigating that. Our investigation will determine that. We do not have information that he's been acting with anyone else at present."
Meanwhile, the US Secret Service claims that stricter protection measures are already in place.
Its acting director, Ronald Rowe, said he has spoken to Mr Trump and affirms that the former US president is “aware that he has the highest levels of protection” from the agency.
The US Secret Service claims that a federal agent's “swift action” prevented the man from having a line of sight on the former US President.
He says that the agents did their job exactly as they should do during such an incident.
"The president wasn't even really supposed to go there. It was not on his official schedule. And so we put together a security plan. And that security plan worked."
Still, Rowe says he will be having conversations with members of Congress to ensure the Secret Service has everything it needs to be successful.
"Our folks are rising to this moment, but it requires all of us to be able to have good conversations and make sure that we're getting the Secret Service where it needs to be. And I'm confident that we will achieve that, because we don't have an alternative. Success, we have to have it every day. We cannot have failures. And in order to do that, we're going to have some hard conversations with Congress and we're going to achieve that."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the Congress is committed to fight political violence in the US.
"We all must do our part to ensure an incident like this does not happen again. This means that Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Secret Service and all law enforcement have the resources they need to do their jobs. So as we continue the appropriations process, if the Secret Service is in need of more resources, we are prepared to providing it for them."
With less than 50 days to go before the November 5th election and early ballots already being mailed out, some voters are worried about the security of American democracy.
John Hunt, a retiree from Bucks County, says he was shocked by the incident.
"It's a crazy world we're living in right now. And the first thing I think about is why did he have a gun? Why did he have a rifle? Why? Is he mentally ill? And how is he able to? In Florida, I guess it's a little easier to do that. But up here in Bucks County we keep tabs and things like that. It's upsetting that we have to live in a society like this.”
