Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Rejecting Violence, But Only When It's Directed At You Joyce Vance Sep 17 What do you do when the protectee won’t listen to reason? Tonight, the Washington Post is reporting that early in his presidency, the Secret Service went to Trump to express concerns about their ability to protect him if he continued to golf at his own courses because of their proximity to public roads. The concern: “If photographers with long-range lenses could get the president in their sights while he golfed, so too could potential gunmen.” According to the Post, Trump responded that his golf courses were safe, and he wanted to keep playing golf on them. Former presidents have smaller protection details after they leave the White House, which means less surveillance of an extended perimeter. The New York Times is reporting tonight that the detail did not search the entire perimeter of the course before Trump played, and President Biden called for Congress to increase the resources allocated to the Secret Service. But the headline here should be that the Secret Service did its job—the gunman didn’t get closer than 500 feet, about a football field and a half, to Trump. Trump wasn’t harmed; the would-be gunman didn’t get a shot off. That was so despite the fact that Trump’s outing had not been previously planned, which forced Secret Service agents “to work on the fly”—something they are loathe to do for precisely the reasons that materialized on Sunday. The Post article recounts the story told by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, that after an armed man forced his way in and took hostages while President Reagan was playing at Augusta National, Reagan gave up golfing on public courses. He restricted his hobby to a single private course owned by friends. Petro wrote in his book that Reagan “said that he was giving up golf purposely because he was concerned about putting other people at unnecessary risk.” There is also a larger concern: How did Ryan Wesley Routh, a convicted felon with a long criminal history and a history of mental illness, get his hands on an SKS rifle with a scope? More details about that are likely to come out, because the Justice Department charged Routh earlier today in connection with the incident. The District Attorney in Palm Beach, Dave Aronberg, told me “We were preparing warrants and a motion for pre-trial detention when the local U.S. Attorney's Office told me that they were going to pursue charges in this case. As with any case, when the feds assert jurisdiction, we defer to them. There are no turf wars in our community with our federal partners, and when it comes to an investigation into an attempted assassination of a former President, they are best equipped to lead it.” Routh was charged by complaint with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Justice Department lawyers will likely go to a grand jury as soon as possible to obtain an indictment, and it’s possible, as they learn more in the course of the investigation, that more charges could be added, possibly attempted murder charges if the investigation produces evidence of intent and shows that Routh had made all of his preparations and was only waiting for Trump to show up in his sights before he took a shot. For now, we have the two gun charges: 18 USC 922(g): the felon in possession charge. (g)It shall be unlawful for any person— (1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year…to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. 18 USC 922(k): the obliterated serial number charge (k) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to transport, ship, or receive, in interstate or foreign commerce, any firearm which has had the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial number removed, obliterated, or altered or to possess or receive any firearm which has had the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial number removed, obliterated, or altered and has, at any time, been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. The complaint alleges that a Secret Service agent who was walking the golf course perimeter saw what appeared to be a rifle poking out of the tree line. He fired his weapon in that direction, and a witness saw a man flee the area. Routh was arrested by officers from two local sheriffs’ offices later in the day. Agents found a digital “GoPro” camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a black plastic bag containing food. The serial number on the rifle was partially obliterated. According to the complaint, Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010. That makes the felon in possession charge an obvious choice. The statutory penalty is imprisonment for not more than 15 years. The statutory penalty for possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number is up to five years in custody. Typically, penalties imposed in the federal system under sentencing guidelines are significantly lower than those authorized by statute, although here, where the defendant has extensive criminal history and the conduct is very serious, he will be looking at a substantial sentence. SKS-type rifles are semiautomatic weapons made from a 1940s Soviet design that was surpassed by the AK-47. The SKS is relatively inexpensive and readily obtained in both shops and gun shows. It is not manufactured in Florida, which means it will meet the requirement of the statutes that the firearm have been shipped/transported in interstate commerce. Routh remains in custody. At the same time Trump praised the Secret Service for protecting him, he was unable to make the connection to threats against others. In this politically charged moment, it's incumbent on all of our leaders to explicitly reject violence as the solution to our problems. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were quick to express their gratitude Trump was safe and to condemn violence. Harris tweeted: “I am deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today. As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more to violence.” Trump did not express similar sentiments about the bomb threats in Springfield, Ohio, which came on the heels of his and J.D. Vance’s repeated lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets. It’s important to have leaders who unflinchingly reject domestic terrorism. But Vance was unconcerned about repeating the lies that led to the threats, telling CNN’s Dana Bash, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do." Tonight he told the Georgia Faith and Freedom Coalition, “The big difference between conservatives and liberals is that no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple months. I'd say that's pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric.” Neither of the men who tried to attack Trump is a “liberal.” Both have stronger Republican or MAGA ties and considerable evidence of mental health issues. That Vance is willing to mischaracterize the facts and talk so cavalierly about Harris’ safety is heart-stopping. His willingness to twist the truth for political gain makes clear that the guy Trump would have one heartbeat away from the presidency is no better than Trump himself. The pair of them may reject violence when it’s directed towards them—as we all should—but they are unconcerned when anyone else is the target. Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day. It’s a great day to ask people around you if they’re registered and help them complete the process if they aren’t. Then make plans to turn voting into a celebration. Get together to vote or get together afterward. Don’t take your right to participate in democracy for granted. Every day, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are showing us just how important our votes are in this election.  We’re in this together, Joyce