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The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in 64 days is a troubling turn of events

Home » Category Listing » The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in 64 days is a troubling turn of events

The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in 64 days is a troubling turn of events

On the afternoon of Sept. 15, Donald Trump was playing golf at the  in West Palm Beach, Fla., . Secret Service agents opened fire when an agent noticed someone pointing a rifle in the bushes at the golf course; .

The FBI deemed the incident , who was . The Republican presidential candidate was not injured in this latest assassination attempt. The July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., .

Back-to-back assassination attempts on American presidents are not unprecedented. Gerald Ford survived  in September 1975. Trump has now survived two assassination attempts within 64 days of each other.

With this second act of political violence directed towards Trump, a deeper look at assassination attempts is needed to begin to interpret this troubling turn of events.

Emerging details

The details of the second assassination attempt on Trump draws our attention to the characteristics of the alleged suspect.

Using witness information, the accused suspect, . Routh is a 58-year-old with ties to North Carolina and Hawaii and a .  possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

In 1997, the U.S. Secret Service published , that analyzed previous assassination attempts. It provided key questions for security personnel to consider when attempting to understand attacks on public officials.

One question posed in the monograph is: “Were there key life events and patterns in the histories of persons who have directed violence towards public officials?”

Findings from Preventing Assassination indicated that critical life events of assassins included experiences with an accident or illness, a loss of relationship, a failure in an endeavour or a loss of status.

In this latest attempt, the alleged assassin appears to have a documented history of his failed effort to fight in Ukraine. Routh had also reportedly been involved  that had led to him being ordered to pay tens of thousands of dollars to plaintiffs.

In February 2023, Routh self-published a book titled . And in March 2023, he was interviewed by The New appTimes for an article with the headline “.”CNN takes a look at Ryan Wesley Routh, who allegedly attempted to assassinate Trump.

Politics as warfare

The bigger picture of an apparent second assassination attempt on Trump is how people who are attracted to extremes of political thought feel enabled by the current American political environment.

The evident normalization of political violence can be related to the strong polarization of U.S. voters. A 2022 study by  on the  suggested that a growing number of Americans have come to see politics as a form of warfare. In such circumstances, elections are viewed as contests between the forces of good and evil.

That sentiment was echoed on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, when . He said: “You can’t have a contest if you see politics as an all-out war instead of a peaceful way to resolve our differences. All-out war is what Trump wants.”

, published in 2015 by the United States Military Academy Combating Terrorism Center, provides some needed perspective on the relationship between political polarization and assassinations.

The study suggests that elections are more effective and peaceful after ensuring the most intense political grievances have been addressed. Unresolved intense political grievances have the potential to instigate further violence, including assassination attempts on politicians.

Bracing for an October surprise

In American politics, the expression “” describes “, upending a presidential election.

Given the trajectory of this 2024 presidential election season, an October surprise related to political violence could unduly influence electoral outcomes.

Trump politicized the first assassination attempt  and his campaign . Some of Trump’s allies, including his running mate, JD Vance, have suggested that the July assassination attempt was the .

Given that there have been two apparent assassination attempts on the Republican presidential candidate, political violence has become a defining characteristic of the 2024 election. It is no longer hyperbolic thinking to consider that an October surprise may involve another assassination attempt.

By Associate Professor Jack L. Rozdilsky, Disaster and Emergency Management, app

This article is republished from .