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Quick Take
Former President Donald Trump has been the target of two assassination attempts over the past three months. Viral posts are now spreading the false claim that police discovered explosives in a vehicle near a Trump campaign rally in New York on Sept. 18. Police said the claim is “unfounded.”
Full Story
Two assassination attempts have been aimed at former President Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential race.
The first attempt occurred July 13 during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania, when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots from the roof of a nearby building, grazing Trump in the right ear. Crooks was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene. One rally attendee died in the shooting and two others were injured.
Another apparent assassination attempt occurred Sept. 15, when a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a gun and opened fire in the direction of Ryan Wesley Routh, who was reportedly hiding in trees with a loaded, SKS-style semiautomatic rifle with a scope near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the former president was playing a round of golf. Routh fled the scene and was later arrested on gun charges, pending a further investigation that could result in more serious charges.
Update, Sept. 26: Routh was indicted on Sept. 24 for the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
But a recent claim of a possible third attempt on Trump’s life has been debunked by police and the Secret Service following a campaign rally at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, on Sept. 18.
A Sept. 18 post on Instagram shared a screenshot of an X post by James Lalino, a journalist formerly associated with Project Veritas. Lalino’s post said, in part, “Sources in the Nassau County Police Department just told me that ‘the perimeter was breached and a blue barrel was removed’ from the area surrounding tonight’s Trump rally sight. Source said, ‘During K9, doing their checks, they found an explosive device in one of the vehicles and that driver ended up running into the woods.”
A Sept. 19 Instagram post by the website Valuetainment claimed, “Police Reportedly Find Explosives in Vehicle Near Long Island Trump Rally.” The caption on the post, which received nearly 14,000 likes, said, “According to unconfirmed reports, Nassau County Police allegedly discovered explosives in a car parked near the site of former President Donald Trump’s rally in Long Island, New York ahead of his scheduled Wednesday night speech.”
But a Nassau County Police Department public information officer told us on Sept. 19 that claims that explosives were found near the Trump rally were “unfounded.”
A Sept. 18 statement from the Nassau County police said: “The Public Information Office reports a suspicious incident that occurred in Uniondale. Reports of explosives being found at the site are unfounded. There is a person who is being questioned who may have been training a bomb detection dog near the site. The individual with the bomb dog falsely reported explosives being found and that individual is currently being detained by police.”
Nate Herring, a spokesperson with the Secret Service, told us in a phone interview that the incident reported by the Nassau County police was “unrelated” to the Trump rally and had “no protective nexus to the Trump rally that occurred in New York.”
Since the assassination attempt on Sept. 15, a number of Republican lawmakers have called for a higher level of security around Trump leading up to the Nov. 5 election. President Joe Biden also has stressed the importance of giving the Secret Service additional support.
At a news conference on Sept. 16, Ronald Rowe, acting director of the Secret Service, said Trump has the “highest levels of protection” and that the elements put in place following the attack in July “are working.”
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Facebook has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
Associated Press. “Biden says Secret Service ‘needs more help’ after apparent 2nd Trump assassination attempt.” 16 Sep 2024.
Associated Press. “Secret Service acting director says agency’s protective measures are ‘working.’” 16 Sep 2024.
Cohen, Zachary and Evan Perez. “Justice Department trying to build an attempted assassination case against man accused in Trump incident at golf course.” CNN. 19 Sep 2024.
Herb, Jeremy, Zachary Cohen and Kevin Liptak. “‘The Secret Service needs more help’: Trump protection scrutinized after apparent assassination attempt.” CNN. 16 Sep 2024.
Herring, Nate. Spokesperson, U.S. Secret Service. Phone interview with FactCheck.org. 19 Sep 2024.
Johnson, Julia. “GOP demands Trump have ‘same level’ Secret Service protection as Biden after 2nd assassination attempt.” Fox News. 17 Sep 2024.
Nassau County Police Department. Public Information Office. Suspicious Incident – Uniondale. 18 Sep 2024.
Nassau County Police Department. Spokesperson, phone interview with FactCheck.org. 19 Sep 2024.
Spencer, Saranac Hale. “Posts Baselessly Suggest Others Were Involved in Trump’s Assassination Attempt.” Factcheck.org. 18 Jul 2024.
U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Public Affairs. “Suspect at Trump International Golf Course Charged with Firearms Offenses.” 16 Sep 2024.