Secret Service Director Says Suspect Did Not ‘Have Line of Sight’ On Trump, Nor Did He Fire His Weapon

The acting director of the U.S. Secret Service, Ronald Rowe , addressed the recent incident near former President Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club on Sunday, in which a man with a gun was detained after agents fired at him for brandishing a weapon.

“The agent who was visually sweeping the area of the sixth green saw the subject armed with what he perceived to be a rifle and immediately discharged his firearm,” Rowe said during a press conference, adding:

The subject, who did not have line of sight to the former president, fled the scene. He did not fire or get off any shots at our agent. With reports of gunfire, the former president’s close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location. The protective methodologies of the Secret Service were effective yesterday.

Some initial reports on Sunday said that Trump’s protection “returned” fire at the suspect after he fired near Trump, which Rowe has now corrected.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday called for additional funding for the U.S. Secret Service as it continues to protect multiple figures, from former U.S. presidents to top government officials and both presidential campaigns.

“There’s no place in America for political violence of any kind,” said Schumer on the Senate floor. “We all must do our part to ensure an incident like this does not happen again. That means that Congress has a responsibility to ensure the Secret Service and all law enforcement have the resources they need to do their jobs.

“So as we continue the appropriations process, if the Secret Service is in need of more resources, we are prepared in providing for them, possibly in the upcoming funding agreement.”

Trump has since blamed top Democrats for the incident. “They use highly inflammatory language,” Trump said after calling Vice President Kamala Harris the “ enemy from within.”

“I can use it too — far better than they can — but I don’t,” Trump claimed.

Watch the clip above.