Federal officials held a press conference on Monday, and confirmed they are investigating the attempted shooting incident at Donald Trump's golf course this weekend as an assassination attempt.
FBI Miami Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri made the announcement.
"We view this as extremely serious and are working to determine the events that happened leading up to what took place," he says.
The 58-year-old would-be shooter, Ryan Routh, was in court today and charged with two felony firearms counts. One is possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and the other for buying a firearm with an erased serial number. He was convicted previously on other firearms charges.
Interim Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe commended his team's efforts, saying their quick actions stopped any shots being fired.
"Yesterday was off the record movement...the President was not really supposed to be there, it was not on his official schedule," he said. "We put together a security plan, and that security plan worked."
The agencies also commended local law enforcement for their efforts in preventing the shooting.
Routh, according to cell phone records, waited in the area for 12 hours before the event. He was found with a Soviet-style SKS rifle, a backpack, and a camera.
Trump today blamed the rhetoric of the Biden-Harris administration for the second attempted assassination on him. He was unharmed in the incident.
Photo: AFP