A Second Assassination Plot and the New Era of Political Violence

from The New York Times I'm Michael. baboro this is the. [Music]. daily. today everything we now know about what. appears to be a second attempted. assassination of Donald Trump I spoke. with my colleagues about the suspect's. background the secret Services struggle. to protect Trump and this new era of.

political. violence it's Tuesday September. [Music]. 17th on Monday law enforcement officials. offered a much Fuller picture of what. they're describing as the attempted. assassination of former president Trump. in West Palm Beach the second such. attempt on his life in just over 2.

months according to a criminal complaint. cell phone data showed that the suspect. Ryan Wesley ralth had been lurking in. the woods near Trump's Golf Course for. roughly 12 hours starting at around 2. a.m. on Sunday. morning then around 1:30 p.m. As Trump. began round of golf a secret service. agent who was monitoring the perimeter. of the golf course spotted what appeared.

to be the barrel of a rifle poking out. from a line of trees moments later the. agent fired in the direction of the. rifle all right 1:30 this. afternoon call came out shots fired that. was called in by the Secret Service. because we're it was then according to. Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw. that ralth unharmed by the gunfire fled. the scene fortunately we were able to. locate a witness that came to us and.

said hey I saw the guy running out of. the bushes he jumped into a black Nissan. and I took a picture of the vehicle and. the tank which was great police in Palm. Beach quickly took that license plate. information and fed it into the state's. highway camera system and we were able. to get a hit on that vehicle on I95 as. it was headed in Martin County take two. steps to your. right take two steps to your right come.

back driver walk straight back about 40. minutes later police in a nearby County. pulled ralth over and ordered him out of. the vehicle a scene that was captured on. their body. cameras back at the golf course police. found what Rous allegedly Left Behind as. he fled now in the bushes where this guy. was is a AK-47 style rifle with a scope.

two backpacks which were hung on the. fence that had a ceramic tile in him and. a GoPro which he by Monday morning. Federal prosecutors charged ralth with. two gun-related crimes and suddenly the. world was very focused on ralth. himself well this morning we're starting. to get a clearer picture of the suspect. in the apparent assassination attempt on. former president Donald Trump it was.

quickly revealed that ralth had a. lengthy criminal history including a. conviction in 2002 over an incident in. which he barricaded himself inside a. building in North Carolina with an. automatic weapon what the FBI is also. aware of are some of his online claims. about foreign travel and I want to zero. in but perhaps the most unusual piece of. his biography was his decision to travel. to Ukraine Ralph claims that he went to. ke in 2022 he was Raising which is what.

had brought him to the attention of my. colleague Thomas Gib nef who goes by TM. as it happens TM actually interviewed. ralth by phone last year a conversation. that TM recounted to me on Monday. morning so it was the winner of 23 last. year and I had just finished covering. Afghanistan I was covering the war in. Ukraine and I was working on a story. about these Wayward volunteers who had.

kind of flooded into Ukraine at the. start of the war and when you say. Wayward what do you mean well I mean. this is kind of the weird puzzle where. the West is backing Ukraine but not. sending their own troops and instead you. just have this flood of people who want. to support Ukraine they want to be. Instagram Stars they want to write books. they want to see combat they want to. kill people and one of these volunteers. that showed up in Ukraine was Ryan rth.

he was a man in his mid-50s uh he was a. former construction worker he I think. grew up in Greensboro North Carolina he. kind of had this like gentle Southern. Twang and his pictures uh you know. posted online were a little ridiculous. as hair unkempt weing like American flag. power felia and I mean he from the. get-go struck me as quite a character. and I was put in touch with him through. a colleague and when I spoke to him. after you know back and forth on. WhatsApp and to an extent he basically.

said he had this grand plan he had the. spreadsheet to get hundreds of Afghan. soldiers who were spread between Iran. Pakistan and Afghanistan into Ukraine to. fight for the government huh so within. it seems like a very short while of you. meeting him he's describing a very. ambitious idea he has to not just. personally try to help Ukraine but. somehow. recruit people who had left Afghanistan. to help Ukraine.

yeah that was the short of it and he was. talking about paying off officials and. forging passports and there was even one. thing where he said he was going to. arrange a US military transport from. arel Iraq and it would fly to Poland. with these Afghans on board which seemed. absolutely ridiculous but his tone of. voice was already in motion you know if. he was selling me a used car I mean I'd. be I'd be paying for it I guess but. having you know interacted with a lot of. these guys it was pretty clear it was.

pretty unsustainable from what you're. saying this is sounding like somewhat of. a fanciful plan but did ralth at all. seem on paper qualified to be drawing up. such a plan at all no I mean I think. that was one of the things that really. drew me to interviewing him for the. story and then putting him in there is. the fact that he was from Greensboro. North Carolina had spent time in Hawaii. had absolutely no experience one in this. part of the world in the military and. was just a man in his.

mid-50s with good intentions did he give. you a sense of why Ukraine mattered to. him why he had gone there and put all. this effort and in theory risk toward a. country he doesn't live in yeah I mean. that's tough to answer because I think I. am a little jaded as far as you know the. motivations behind the people who show. up in war zones he had all the. boilerplate responses where everyone. should be here fighting you know it's. ridiculous that other governments. haven't sent troops like if it's not me. than who that kind of rhetoric but it it.

just felt to me that he was kind of. there to be a different version of Ryan. ralth and he was putting his entire. being into it that's really interesting. did he at any point TM talk to you about. American domestic politics either in. relation to America's approach to the. war in Ukraine or or in general during. your conversation no um he did not but a. couple days ago he spoke to one of his.

Afghan friends and politics came up and. he wasn't Pro Trump or Pro Biden he was. pro-immigration and at this point I mean. this was four days ago he was living in. the back of his car and said he had no. money in his bank account so wow it. seemed very much that he was at the end. of this Arc that began after Russia. invaded Ukraine so I think that brings. me to the biggest question of all I have. for you which is by the time you were. done talking to him and now of course.

incorporating this information that you. just described of him living out of a. car what was your overall impression of. him yeah I mean my interactions with him. were brief but I think from the first. time I got on the phone with him I was. kind of under the impression that this. was a guy who wasn't completely there I. mean he said things that made sense and. he composed complete sentences but yeah. he lived in a reality that I could see. but definitely wasn't a part of and I. think if it was was you know some guy in.

a vacuum that I would say this is it was. pretty unsettling but since there were a. lot of guys like Mr ralth especially in. Ukraine at that time you know seemed. kind of par for the course that's not to. say that there aren't barers in Ukraine. that are there for all the right reasons. and doing great things he just was kind. of in a different Camp so what were your. first thoughts when you realized that. this same guy you had been talking to. about Ukraine had been arrested for. allegedly attempting to assassinate. former president Trump yeah I mean sadly.

it kind of checked. [Music]. out right at the heart of this is the. war in Ukraine and some way shape or. form that the US has sent and other. governments to set money and weapons but. not people and the people that have gone. are of varying backgrounds and have. varying motives and in some way shape or. form like the war always comes home h.

and that was just an extension of that. it was an extreme extension and I didn't. think it was going to be someone I. talked to on the phone or quoted in a. story a year ago but so it. [Music]. goes well TM thank you very much we. really appreciate it yeah thanks for. having. [Music]. me on Monday night the times reported. that ralth had authored a self-published.

book focused on Ukraine in which he. expressed his hatred for Russian. President Vladimir Putin and his disdain. for Donald Trump in the book Ralph. described Trump as a threat to American. democracy and at one point told his. readers quote you are free to. assassinate Trump. [Music].

we'll be right. back by Monday amid the police briefings. and the criminal charges the real. question on almost everyone's mind was. how could this be happening again and. happening again so soon which inevitably. LED to questions about the Secret.

Service the agency whose 3,000 agents. are responsible for protecting. presidential candidates an agency that. by its own admission failed to do that. two months ago in. Pennsylvania on Monday morning President. Biden himself weighed in saying that in. his mind there was no longer any debate. the Secret Service quote needs more. help so I put all of those questions to.

my colleague Glenn thrush who has been. reporting on the secret Services. troubles over the past few. months Glenn should we see what happened. here an agent spotting this gun before. the suspect could fire a shot his. eventual arrest as the Secret Service. succeeding or as President Biden seemed. to have suggested on Monday should we. see all of this. as a sign that the Secret Service is.

still struggling to do its job well it's. both the individual agents responded. swiftly and they had Keen eyes they did. their jobs but the Secret Service RIT. large seems to have committed some. significant errors in terms of securing. the perimeter of Trump's Golf Club it. appears that Ralph camped out for about. 12 hours on the perimeter of Trump's.

golf course and that reflects a failure. by the Secret Service and its local. Partners in law enforcement to sweep and. secure the perimeter that's 12 hours. we're not talking about somebody who. showed up and then jumped into the. bushes this was somebody who could have. been detected for a half of a day so. when we think about the shortcomings. exposed here on the part of a secret. service it's in failing to secure that. perimeter not in of course spotting a. barrel of a gun along a tree line which. as you said seems quite heroic Michael.

That's The Duality on one hand they're. among the best trained best equipped law. enforcement officials in the country on. the other hand their mission is so. amorphous rapidly changing and difficult. that it's often times hard for them to. deal with all these emergency threats. over the past 6 months it seems like. they have been one step behind that they. continue to be behind the curve when it.

comes to addressing all of these new. problems well let's talk about that and. whether or not it seems to be a resource. problem because one thing that we. learned in the aftermath of the first. attempt on Trump's life during that. political rally in Pennsylvania was that. Trump and those around him have said. that some of their previous requests for. more security from the Secret Service. were denied and the thinking was that. after that that they would get more. security so did that ever happen we've.

been told that they have gotten enhanced. security and it's not just bodies it's. individuals doing on the Ground. Intelligence to determine threats but. here's the thing all law enforcement. folks from prison guards to local cops. have trouble recruiting and hiring. people and the standards for the Secret. Service are the highest in the country. comparable to hiring FBI agents so you. can't just recruit people easily so. there's a Manpower shortage to be able. ble to deal with these threats which are.

emerging and morphing and evolving into. challenges that the secret service has. never had a confront before that makes. me wonder and here of course we can't. get into Donald Trump's head or into the. conversations he has with his security. detail but why is he playing to put this. bluntly so much golf on an open seeming. golf course that would seem to present a. unique challenge to this already. strained Secret Service detail well you.

and I both know that this is part of his. routine this is how he blows off steam. this is how he socializes sacrificing. this would be an immense change. particularly at a period of time where. he is under a tremendous amount of. stress and before we forget he was shot. he was grazed in the ear and to anyone. who's experienced that kind of trauma it. shapes you it changes you it creates a. ton of stress throw this on top of that.

golf happens to be the way that this guy. happens to unwind mhm that said it's. virtually impossible to provide blanket. security in that kind of an environment. and it would make it a lot easier on the. Secret Service which is overstretched. already if they didn't have to confront. those kind of challenges day after day. weekend after weekend so I want to. understand from you Glenn because you've. been covering this so closely how this. latest assassination attempt and this. Duality this kind of mixed View of. whether the Secret Service handled it.

really well is likely to fit into the. current investigations into the Secret. Service Congress has been looking into. what happened at the rally in Butler. Pennsylvania so far their conclusions. are very unflattering to the Secret. Service and there are all these calls. for major reforms top down within that. agency is what happened in Palm Beach do. you think going to fuel those calls or. because of its complex Duality nature. going to be treated a little bit.

differently look I think we're on two. tracks. here you have to do something to triage. the situation because you're in the. middle of the most intense campaign in. terms of security in the history of this. country so they've got to throw whatever. resources whether it's bringing in other. federal law enforcement officials. coordinating better with the locals just. to deal with the challenges of the. current election for the next couple of. months. right but after that and and this comes. from conversations with a lot of people.

former and current federal officials. there has to be more accountability. there has to be more precise systems in. place so I think after all is said and. done we are going to see a major top to. bottom overhaul of this. [Music]. agency well Glen thank you very much. thank. you what I can tell you is that we have. immediate needs right now and we have.

great support not only from President. Biden and you saw his public statement. today after I spoke to Glenn the head of. the Secret Service acknowledged the. agency's need for greater funding and. for more agents during a news conference. success we have to have it every day we. cannot have failures and in order to do. that we're going to have some hard. conversations with Congress and we're. going to achieve. [Music]. that but as the debate wage over the. conduct of the Secret Service there was.

another conversation happening on Monday. about something arguably even bigger. which is whether the United States has. now officially entered a new era of. political violence with Donald Trump at. its Center there have been periods of. political violence throughout American. history we've had four presidents who. were assassinated another one who was. shot and seriously wounded Peter Baker. is the times chief White House. correspondent but what we're seeing now.

does stand out I think we've had two. attempts on the life of a former. president and presidential candidate. within just two months and that's a lot. fortunately in this case Trump has. survived both of them but it raises. questions about our polarization about. the anger in our politics and our. culture and about whether political. violence is becoming an accepted or if. not accepted and expected regular. feature of our politics right and when. we think about political violence in. this moment or the threat of political.

violence it's not just that there have. been these two attempted assassinations. of former president Trump there are. smaller admittedly meaningfully smaller. versions of political violence happening. across the country you're right exactly. even in like Springfield Ohio small town. in the midwest where there's been an. influx of Haitian migrants and the. former president just said last week. that these immigrants are eating. people's pet dogs and pet cats not true. true no evidence of that but it hasn't.

stopped him from saying it and it seems. to have provoked some sort of reaction. because there have been more than 30. bomb threats and other threats in. Springfield just in the last few days. alone and people in the Haitian. community of course also feeling. particularly threatened and that again. comes back to Trump actually right and. of course anger has been the animating. force of Trump's time in politics both. the anger he stir among his supporters. against his Rivals and the anger he. generates among opponents who come to. loath him right in some sense Trump is.

the through line in this new era of. political violence but that's a pretty. complicated equation to think about and. I want us to explore this for a minute I. mean this idea that Trump has at times. inspired political violence through his. rhetoric we know that dating back to his. first campaign and to January. 6th and now on two occasions in quick. succession has become the target of.

political violence how are we supposed. to think about the two sides of that. equation yeah exactly I think he has. elevated the temperature in our society. to the point where therefore politics is. an existential fight and it's not just. enough to have a debate about what the. best immigration policy is the. immigrants who are here are a threat. they must be dealt with in some way or. another and obviously most rational. people don't believe that that should. mean political violence but it doesn't. take that many irrational people to.

cause real trouble and similarly on the. other side where he you know inspires. such anger at himself because of the way. he is that inspires again people who. might not be fully rational to. potentially at least lash out as. well of course Peter Trump is making a. very different argument in this moment. which is that these assassination. attempts are not the result of a. heightened political temperature that he. has created in the system but instead he.

is pretty explicitly blaming Democrats. and the way that they treat him right. and look you know the language that. Democrats are using against him is. pretty strong right they're not saying. that he is wrong about tax policy or. foreign policy they're saying he is an. existential threat to the country that. he wants to be a dictator that America. as we have known it might not exist any. further if he becomes president now when. he complains about that though he then. uses the same kind of language if not.

more extreme about them because he says. that you know KLA Harris and Joe Biden. are destroying the country you won't. have a country anymore if if she's. elected he says he literally on Fox News. while complaining about Democratic. rhetoric said that Biden and Kamala are. the Enemy Within well if we believe and. he's making the argument that we should. that using such language encourages. people to take violence against him he. doesn't seem to have any compunctions. about using language like that against.

them and in fact he's used much worse he. has over the years directly encouraged. beating up protesters or hecklers at his. rallies shooting unarmed people like. looters or immigrants he has mocked The. Vicious attack on speaker Pelosi's. husband I mean he has gone much further. than the language he complains about. Democrats using in his own rhetoric and. so I think we're in a moment in our. history where we risk. normalizing that kind of.

conversation Peter I want to be careful. with this question but it feels upon. reflecting on what Glenn thrush or. colleag just told us that we're now. facing two very serious problems at the. same time and they're very interrelated. we're facing the problem of our secret. service being stretched very thin and. everyone understanding it because there. have been two attempts on the life of. the same Republican nominee for. president and simultaneously the. political temperature of the country. fueled by that candidate is really hot. and that combination seems very fraud.

and very worrisome it is fraud and it is. worrisome and and you don't know where. it can lead I'm reminded that in the. morning of his own assassination Jack. Kennedy reportedly said if somebody. wants to shoot me from a window with a. rifle nobody can stop it in other words. he seemed very fatalistic about the idea. that you could ever truly protect a. president now we've done a lot since. then to make it a lot harder and there. are more things presumably that can be. done now as a result of the lessons that. will presumably be learned from these.

two most recent incidents but it is true. that we're in a moment where our. polarization is so exacerbated our. public conversation is so toxic the. anger is so thick in the air that you. don't know where it's going to lead and. and we've never you know in decades we. have not lived through the crisis that a. political assassination of somebody at. that level would cause.

it would rip the country apart right it. would simply just tear us apart it would. just tear us. apart well Peter I appreciate it thank. you very. [Music]. much we'll be right back. [Music].

here's what else you need to another day. on Monday a former engineer for the. company that operated the Titan. submersible which imploded in the ocean. last year and killed everyone on board. testified that he was fired for raising. safety concerns within the company. during a hearing the engineer told Coast. Guard investigators that he was fired. for refusing to approve a deepsea.

Expedition after he had determined that. Titan's Hull was. unsafe another former employee the. company's Finance director testified. that she quit over safety concerns in. particular over the submers design which. had never met industry. [Music]. standards today's episode was produced. by Carlos PRI Eric krupky and Luke.

Vander plug it was edited by MJ Davis. Lynn and Lisa Chow contains original. music by Dan Powell Maran Lozano and. Alicia bitu and was engineered by Chris. Wood our theme music is by Jim brunberg. and Ben Lans FK of wonderly. [Music]. that's it for the daily I'm Michael Boro.

see you tomorrow. [Music].