Trump praises civilian for doing 'phenomenal job' in helping nab Ryan Routh after assassination bid

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump praised the civilian witness, a woman, who did a 'phenomenal job' in the detention of Ryan Wesley Routh after an alleged assassination attempt on the former president on Sunday, September 15, when he was golfing at his club in West Palm Beach, per TMZ.

According to officials, the witness on the scene spotted the suspect, Ryan, hiding behind bushes before he fled. Secret Service agents and police officers were then informed about a black Nissan he drove, per Fox News.

Donald Trump praises civilian witness who helped nab Ryan Routh 

Donald Trump co-hosted a Spaces on X interview on Monday, September 16, and talked about different topics, including Sunday's foiled would-be assassination attempt. He added that a witness saw the suspect running to his car and clicked photos of him, his car, and his license plate and gave it to cops, helping them track the person down.

Trump said the woman noticed him and "did a phenomenal job" by taking pictures. He said, "How many people would have the brainpower to follow him to the back of his truck?" adding that the important piece was the photo of the would-be assassin's license plate.

Trump said once authorities had the license photo from the witness, they were able to use some high tech to find him. Law enforcement said that Ryan had posted up for about 12 hours in a makeshift sniper tent about 400 yards away from Trump and took off running when he was fired upon.

Palm Beach County Sheriff praises Secret Service agents for swift action

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw praised the Secret Service agents for their quick action. Bradshaw said, "The Secret Service did exactly what they should have done, they provided exactly what the protection should have been and their agent did a fantastic job."

He said that Ryan was about 400 to 500 yards away from Trump and hidden in shrubbery while the GOP nominee played golf on a nearby hole, per Fox News.

He said that Ryan had an AK-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks hanging on a fence, and a GoPro camera. Bradshaw said that the backpacks had ceramic tiles in them and that the suspect’s belongings were being processed.

Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County, added that Routh will initially be charged at the state level. He said, "Our filing of the warrant and charges at the state level does not preclude the federal charges that could be coming."

He added, "But in the meantime, it looks like the warrants and a pretrial detention motion will happen first."