The suspect in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump last weekend has been charged with two federal firearms crimes.

A lot of information has come to light about the suspect Ryan Wesley Routh58, who was arrested after the incident on sunday at Mr. Trump‘s golf club in West Palm Beach, Floridawhere the former president was playing at the time.

But the FBI says the investigation is still “in its early stages” and many details about the incident remain unknown.

Here are five key unanswered questions after the alleged shooting attempt.

Did Routh know Trump was going to play golf? If so, how?

Trump’s visit to his West Palm Beach golf course was not on his public agenda, United States That’s according to Ronald Rowe Jr., director of the Secret Service (USSS).

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Rowe Jr said it was an “off the record move” and that he “wasn’t supposed to go there”.

It may explain why it took so long for Routh to be discovered. This point will be addressed shortly.

But it also raises the question of whether Routh knew Trump would be coming to the course, or whether he simply sat there waiting without information and hoping the former president, a frequent golfer, would show up.

How could Routh go unnoticed for 12 hours?

According to an FBI analysis of cellphone data, Routh spent about 12 hours on the golf course in West Palm Beach before being spotted by the agent.

Officials said in the documents that Routh’s cell phone was displayed at the tree line near the golf course from 1:59 a.m. to 1:31 p.m. Sunday. Trump arrived there in the afternoon.

According to the Palm Beach district attorney, Routh was “lying in wait” for him.

Trump was off the course on the fifth hole when a USSS agent sweeping the course spotted a gun barrel sticking through a fence just down the course from the boundary.

The suspect was on the “public side” of the fence, Mr. Rowe Jr. said.

The officer “immediately discharged his firearm,” he added, firing multiple shots, prompting officers with Trump to wrestle him to the ground to protect him.

The alleged shooter, who the FBI said had no line of sight of Trump, fled after the agent fired at him. He did not fire.

He sped away in a car and was arrested within an hour in a neighboring county.

Trump himself has praised the USSS for its response to the shooter, but questions have been raised about why it took so long for Routh to be spotted, especially since the incident occurred just nine weeks after another shooter. grazed his ear with a bullet at a meeting in Pennsylvania.

According to Mr. Rowe Jr., the USSS did not fully check the track for safety because it was an impromptu visit.

“It wasn’t on his schedule,” he said. “So it wasn’t posted about because he wasn’t supposed to be there.”

But he added that the USSS “had a security plan in place, and that plan worked.”

What were Routh’s motives?

Much information has emerged about the 58-year-old Hawaii native since the incident occurred, but with a history of supporting both sides of the political spectrum and an obsessive interest in the Ukraine The war and tensions between China and Taiwan reveal a complex character profile.

Records show Routh registered as an independent voter in North Carolina in 2012. He recently voted in person in the state’s March 2024 Democratic primary.

Campaign finance records show that since 2019, Routh has made 19 small political donations worth a total of about $140 (£106) to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates.

Although he appears to have supported Democrats in recent years, Routh appears to have voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election but changed his mind while in office.

Routh wrote in a June 2020 social media post: “While you were my choice in 2016, I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we were all sorely disappointed and it seems you are getting worse and worse.

“I’ll be glad when you’re gone.”

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The question is also whether Routh acted alone.

“If he’s the only shooter, President Trump is so much safer because we have him,” the Palm Beach sheriff said. “But if he’s part of a conspiracy, then this whole thing takes on a really ominous tone.”

Authorities do not yet believe Routh was working with anyone else, but say he was active online and they are gathering details about the suspect’s movements in the weeks leading up to his arrest.

Routh’s son Oran told CNN on Sunday that he hopes “everything has been taken out of context” and that it would not be like his father to “do anything crazy, let alone violent.”

Where did Routh get the gun?

After arresting Routh, authorities said they found an AK-47 assault rifle with a scope at the crime scene from which he is believed to have fled.

The exact model of the weapon is unclear at this time, but semi-automatic versions of the rifle are legal with a permit in Florida, while fully automatic models are allowed under very specific conditions.

However, the FBI stated that Routh was not allowed to own a gun due to prior convictions, so he was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number.

The FBI has confirmed reports that Routh was charged with multiple counts of dealing stolen property between 1997 and 2010. In 2019, an investigation was launched after someone reported him carrying a firearm.

What impact could this incident have on the elections?

With just seven weeks to go before Election Day, the question of how another security incident could affect Trump’s poll numbers is urgent. according to analysis from the American correspondent of Sky News Martha Kelner.

“His campaign team is aware of the political opportunities this event presents, especially now that the polls are so close. Kamala Harris“, she says.

After surviving the July assassination attempt, Trump was depicted in photos with a bloodied ear and a raised fist as a “living martyr,” Kelner added, giving him a lead over President Biden in all seven key swing states.

“But it’s a completely different breed now,” she says.

“Kamala Harris is his opponent and has closed the gap in the polls. In some of those key states he is even slightly ahead.”

She adds that the attempted assassination in July is no longer seen as a significant factor in the race, pointing out that history shows that assassination attempts do not provide lasting momentum to campaigns.

“Another former president, Gerald Ford, was targeted by two assassins within a period of just over two weeks in 1975,” she says.

“He gained some popularity after declaring, like Trump, that he would not be afraid of public appearances. But his approval rating fell below pre-assassination levels and he lost his re-election campaign the following year.”