Democratic Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw stated at a press conference on Sunday, following a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, that law enforcement would prioritize protecting the Republican presidential nominee more if he were the current president rather than just a candidate. Bradshaw’s comments came after the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, marking the second such attempt Trump has survived in the past two months.
“The golf course is surrounded by shrubbery, so when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they’re pretty much out of sight,” he said in attempting to explain away the security failures that led to another attempt on Trump’s life.
“And at this level that he is at right now, he’s not the sitting president,” he continued. “If he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded. But because he’s not, the security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.”
Secret Service representative Rafael Barros was questioned about any changes the agency has made in its protective measures for Trump following the assassination attempt in July.
“The threat level is high,” Barros said. “We have increased the amount of assets that we’ve supported. So we are, we live in danger (sic) times.”
The suspect, armed with an AK-47 and positioned just a few hundred yards from Trump, was reportedly confronted by the Secret Service, prompting him to flee. A witness who observed him entering a vehicle and driving away managed to capture a photo of the car and its license plate, which enabled law enforcement to swiftly track down and arrest the suspect.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says that because Trump is not the sitting president that he is not given complete perimeter protection, even though someone shot him just a couple months ago
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 15, 2024
He said if Trump was president then law enforcement would take protecting him more seriously pic.twitter.com/BXpcHgnFHj
