BOSTON (WHDH) – Massachusetts lawmakers were among those reacting Monday after the FBI confirmed it was investigating an apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump over the weekend.
Law enforcement in Florida arrested 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh on Sunday after officials said a secret service agent spotted a rifle barrel poking through a fence near Trump and opened fire.
Trump was golfing at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach at the time and was not injured in the incident.
Officials said a witness saw Routh flee the scene after shots rang out and helped authorities track Routh to a section of I-95 roughly one hour away from the West Palm Beach.
Just over two months after a gunman tried to assassinate Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa., Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren delivered a simple message when asked about the new incident in Florida.
“Violence is never the answer,” Warren said. “No matter what, this has to stop.”
Warren was speaking at an unrelated event in Malden.
In Boston, Rep. Jake Auchincloss told 7NEWS, “the irresponsible rhetoric that has been injected into this election cycle needs to be tempered.”
Where little was immediately known about the gunman in Butler, investigators have quickly assembled a picture of Routh.
Once a supporter of Trump, Routh turned on the former president, according to CNN, recently describing him as an “idiot.”
The owner of a construction company in Hawaii, Routh had previous run-ins with law enforcement, including a 2002 arrest after he allegedly put his hand on a gun, fled from police, and barricaded himself in a business, CNN reported.
Routh visited Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in 2022, according to CNN, and repeatedly voiced support for Ukraine in the ensuing war.
Prosecutors announced initial gun charges against Routh on Monday. CNN said additional charges may be coming as the investigation into Sunday’s events continues.
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