Which is the US Attorney, FBI civil service. We're going to give you everything that we have. We're going to give you the latest updates. They're going to tell you what's going on with the investigation, everything, and
then we're going to do a limited amount of questions.
So make them good, right? Don't get into what if and all this, get legitimate questions. We got it. Okay. Everybody ready? Okay, we're here today to give an update on the investigation in regards to the incident at Trump International. With me is the US Attorney the FBI and the Secret Service. Just to give you a little information, as you well know, the road down there on Summit still blocked off. It will be blocked off probably for the remainder of today and probably a good portion of tomorrow, until some of the investigative things need to be done and finished. But we're accommodating people in and out, getting them to the library, getting them to the post office, so the public is not going to be that far inconvenienced. The security level at Mar a Lago is the highest it can possibly be. Now, the road closures are back in place and will remain there. The checkpoints are in place, and my commitment to the Secret Service is to give them every possible resource for PbSO, once they determine the level of security that they need, they will get all the resources possible. So having said that, I'll let you talk to the US. Attorney. Thank you, sheriff.
You Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us today. My name is Mark Enzo point. I am the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. I want to start by expressing my deep gratitude to Sheriff Rick Bradshaw of Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for hosting today's press conference and for his department's assistance with this matter. I'm truly grateful for your leadership, sir. I'm also pleased to be joined by our partners in federal law enforcement from the FBI and the United States Secret Service and also from ATF joining us today for comments and announcements. Are Special Agent in Charge, Jeffrey B valtter of the FBI Miami field office and acting director of the US Secret Service. Ron Roe, I want to also thank the men and women in law enforcement who have been working around the clock in the initial phase of this ongoing investigation. But partners include federal and local authorities who effectorated the apprehension of the defendant and have aided in ensuring federal charges were filed against this morning, we're here to announce that Ryan Wesley, Ralph, 58 years old of Hawaii has been charged by a criminal complaint in the Southern District of Florida with firearms offenses related to an incident which occurred yesterday at Trump International Golf Course right here in West Palm Beach. Roth was charged federally with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He had his initial appearance today before Magistrate Judge Ryan McCabe in the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach. According to the allegations in the complaint, a US Secret Service agent walking the golf course perimeter saw what appeared to be a rifle poking out of the tree line. After the agent fired a service weapon in the direction of the rifle, a witness saw a man later identified as Ralph fleeing the area in the tree line. Ralph was later apprehended by officers from the Martin County Sheriff's Office in coordination with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. The complaint alleges that in the area of the tree line from which Ralph fled, agents found a digital 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 obliterated, according to complaint. Ralph was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in december 2002 and march 2010 and therefore was prohibited from possessing a firearm. The FBI is leading this investigation, this ongoing investigation, as the attorney general stated earlier today, the FBI is continuing its investigation of this incident as an assassination attempt upon the former president. The investigation remains at its early stages, the entire Justice Department, including the FBI, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, and the National Security Division, are coordinating closely with our law enforcement partners to fully investigate and prosecute this matter. The charges we're announcing reflect a strong collaboration of the agencies represented here, the US, Attorney's Office, the Department of Justice, will be unable to carry forth our mission without the invaluable assistance of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners. I'd like to thank the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and we have Chris Robertson here, a special agent in charge and your circuit Secret Service for the invaluable assistance they are providing they have been providing. I would also like to recognize the Palm Beach County and Martin County sheriff's offices for operating the defendant against without the local authorities to assist in those things would be literally possible to accomplish the things we were able to accomplish on the federal side. You want to personally thank I want to personally express my gratitude to the attorneys with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida and the counterterrorism section of the Justice Department's National Security Division for their non stop work over the last 24 to 30 hours together, we will continue to work tirelessly to ensuring accountability and the pursuit of justice. At this time, I will invite FBI Special Agent in Charge, Jeff veltrei, to the podium after Special Agent in Charge veltre completes his remarks. Acting Director of the US Secret Service, Ron roe will provide remarks before we open the floor for a few questions. On our end, given that this is a pending matter before the court and the investigation is ongoing, all comments will be limited. Thank you very much.
Good afternoon for a quick introduction. My name is Jeffrey Veltri, FBI, Special Agent in Charge for the Miami field office. The FBI immediately responded to the scene here in West and we are investigating this matter as an apparent assassination attempt of former President Trump. We view this as extremely serious, and are determined to provide answers as to what went up to the events which took place. I want to emphasize, we're just a little over 24 hours into this investigation, so we're going to provide as much as we can publicly while our investigation is still ongoing, we must also stress that the United States Attorney's Office is pursuing charges, and that limits some of the details that we can discuss publicly. Yesterday afternoon, Martin County Sheriff's Office took custody of Ryan Ralph, and he was transported back to Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, our FBI agents, then attempted to interview him, and he invoked his right to an attorney. In the last 24 hours, the FBI and our partners have been dedicated to investigating the incident and utilizing all available resources. These efforts have included our investigative team and the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, in conjunction with DOJ National Security Division, are actively working hand in hand to pursue and subsequently execute search warrants. Thus far, the warrants include a video recording device subjects, cellular devices, a vehicle and other electronic devices located at previous known addresses. We are coordinating with the United States Secret Service to complete numerous interviews of agents on scene. We have also interviewed seven civilian witnesses at the scene, and that is just the beginning. Our FBI Honolulu and Charlotte field offices have initiated interviews of several family members, friends and former colleagues of the subject. FBI has deployed several specialty teams to and assets from FBI headquarters and our lab division in Quantico to include evidence and critical incident response personnel. The Evidence Response Team is collecting and processing multiple evidentiary items. These range from the rifle, which is an SKS model with a scope and obliterated serial numbers to two bags the subject's electronics and what appears to be ceramic tiles. DNA has also been collected from those items which are being sent to Quantico for testing. We will also process the subject's vehicle for evidence. The cellular analysis survey team, what we refer to as cast conducted thorough analysis of the subject's cellular device locations. The cast analysis aligns with witnesses account of the subject's presence at the scene, both before and around the time of the incident on September 15. More specifically, we're continuing to conduct analysis, and we'll be compiling the subject's movements in the days and months leading up to September 15. Cellular data shows that the subject was in the vicinity of the golf course roughly 12 hours before the engagement with the United States Secret Service, our investigative teams conducted a neighborhood Canvas in an effort to collect and obtain relevant video footage. The subject had an active online presence, and we are going through what he posted and any searches he conducted online. In addition, we're going through media reports and public statements he made that he wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers and others to fight for Ukraine. The FBI has sent multiple requests to companies for returns on the subject's phone and social media accounts. We receive several returns and are waiting on additional responses from other companies as well. Our investigative team is completing analysis of the returns and actioning weeds as needed, and we anticipate continuing until the FBI knows the full totality of the subject's social media presence, by way of his background, in 2002 is the United States Attorney mentioned the subject was charged and convicted in North Carolina for possession of a weapon of mass destruction. Law Enforcement checks also revealed that from 1997 to 2010 the subject had numerous felony charges for stolen goods. I can also share with you that he was the subject of a previously closed 2019 tip to the FBI, where it was alleged he was a felon in possession of a firearm. In following up on the tip, the alleged complainant interviewed, was interviewed and did not verify, I repeat, did not verify, providing the initial information, the FBI passed that information to local law enforcement in Honolulu. On behalf of the FBI, I would like to thank the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and Martin County Sheriff's Office for their incredible work in actioning the witnesses information and rapidly apprehending the subject. I would also like to thank the United States Secret Service, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Department of Justice's National Security Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and our FBI field offices in both Honolulu and Charlotte who have been conducting additional law enforcement activity related to the subject. Your continued partnerships have been invaluable. Oftentimes, in law enforcement, we tell citizens to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings. Yesterday, a citizen provided remarkable assistance which led to the arrest of this subject. We appreciate the public's diligence in passing potential tips and information regarding the subject and this incident to the FBI. If you have any information, please call one 800 call FBI or go online to tips. That's T, i, p, s, dot, F, B, i.gov with that, let me turn it over to the United States Secret Service acting director Ron Rowe, good
afternoon, everybody. Yesterday afternoon, this country was reminded of the heightened and dynamic threat environment the United States Secret Service and its protectees face on a daily basis. Immediately following the assassination attempt of former President Donald J Trump on July 13, the Secret Service moved to increase assets to an already enhanced security posture for the former president in the days of poll, President Biden made it clear that he wanted the highest levels of protection for former President Trump and for vice president Harris, the Secret Service moved to sustain increases in assets and the level of protection sought, And those things were in place yesterday at approximately 1:30pm former President Trump was playing golf during an Off The Record movement to the Trump International Golf Course. A Secret Service advance agent supporting the front edge of the agency's layered approach to protection, encountered an individual attempting to secrete himself in the wood line. This happened. The alleged gunman was on the public side of the fence near the sixth green. A layered approach of security is integral to the Secret Service's protective methodologies, and it's also the key to our success. As former President Trump was moving through the fifth fairway, across the course and out of sight of the sixth green. 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. 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 agents 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. The former president's protective apparatus allowed for the early identification of the threat and led to a safe evacuation. The increased assets directed by the President, by President Biden, were in place yesterday. These included the counter sniper team elements, counter surveillance place and counter surveillance agents on the exterior, counter assault teams partnered with local tactical assets from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and counter unmanned aerial system elements. All of these entities were present yesterday, and while all of these assets were in place, as I've said publicly, we must satisfy the basic requirements of the secret services, protective methodologies in partnership with local law enforcement, we did just that, and the agent's hyper vigilance and the detailed swift action was textbook. And I commend them and our partners for an exemplary response in keeping former President Trump safe. And I will tell you, having served in local law enforcement in Palm Beach County, I can state that I am tremendously impressed and appreciative for all the efforts of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Schneider with the Martin County Sheriff's Office. But what was critical to this was the quick reaction, the response, the hyper vigilance of the men and women of the United States Secret Service, who since July 13, have been rising to meet an unprecedented and hyper dynamic threat environment, and they are rising to this moment, and I could not be more proud of them and the way they have executed, not only yesterday, but what they're doing today and what they are doing tomorrow and what they will Always do, because it is their duty. Thank you.
Slow here, folks, I don't everybody do it once. Ask who you want to answer the question, and then get questions, is
there any evidence of success at that time? And what? That
time. So at this time, it was an Off The Record movement, meaning it was not on the on the former president's official schedule. And what I go back to is the layered approach, the elements and the methodologies of the Secret Service, you know, there was a front element. It did its job in sweeping ahead of the President. That's what identified this individual who was in that wood line, and the swift action of that agent doing his job, pushing out ahead, sweeping while the President was behind him, yards and several holes away, out of sight from the gunman, did his job, and that was what alerted the detail, and the swift action is what triggered that question, was
there any evidence to suggest that the suspect knew that Donald Trump was moving beyond that, based on
what I don't know, and it's an active investigation. I don't have any information on that. Ready.
So we this wasn't off the record movement. It wasn't a site that was on his scheduled. It wasn't part of his schedule, so there was no posting up of it, because he wasn't supposed to have gone there in the first place.
Former President Trump under
planning so far so I've had a conversation with the former president. You know, we've explained and we've worked with the campaign the President is aware that he has highest levels of projection that the Secret Service is providing him. We constantly evaluate based on threat. And yesterday, what we show is that our agents and our protective methodologies, and there's a lot of tactical assets in place, things that have been put in place as a result of what happened 60 days ago. Those elements are working, and that demonstrates the redundancies that we have. And so we constantly evaluate we'll of course look at this and see what lessons learned from it, but as of right now, we are constantly evaluating that threat, and if we need to ratchet up Additionally, we will, yes, sir, do we know when Ralph arrived in Florida, in general, when he arrived in the area? That said, the question properly, specifically, if he's been at the golf course prior to this scoping it out, we're in the
process of collecting a lot of evidence, and that will be part of that investigation to determine his whereabouts, going back quite some time, that's part of the investigation as well. Again, that's going to be a little bit challenged until we're able to determine the serial number on that gun. So we're hopeful to be able to do
that. We're still looking into that. A miscommunication, then being
that President Biden
put in the
highest level of protection. So, so here's the deal. When it comes to Secret Service protection, we provide the highest level. So, for example, yesterday, counter assault team elements. I'm not going to go into the number of personnel that we have out there, but we have the highest levels for the Secret Service when we work with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Like, for example, yesterday, during that emergency action response, we had their local tactical team assets partner with our local tactic, tactical team assets. We had their helicopter up in the air, providing us 360 and situational awareness of the overhead for any if there were any potential threats coming to add us. So what we did yesterday was exercise our emergency plan based on the number of tactical assets and the highest level of protection that we are providing. The sheriff, and I have talked now clearly, when you go down southern Boulevard right now, and you try to get over to Palm Beach, and you see the robust presence that's existing outside of Mar a Lago, the heavy uniform presence, the additional assets of the Secret Service. And for those of you that were here in 20, in 2017 when the President was in office. When you look at that footprint now and you look at it today, there's not much difference there. There is heavy uniform presence out there. And again, what I go back to is yesterday was an Off The Record movement, off the record, and the President wasn't even really supposed to go there. It was not on his official schedule. And so we put together a security plan, and that security plan worked. Is
there any evidence to show that Ralph was in this in the vicinity, in the area before Sunday, and when you say in the vicinity, does that mean right there, at that spot, in those bushes, or could it have been down the screen in
the restaurant? It
was in very close proximity to where he was spotted by the Secret Service. In terms of your first question, whether he was there earlier, our investigation is still to determine
that we're gonna do two more, you get one. Only two more, you get
one. Okay, we understand that the Secret Service has asked Congress for additional resources, says the bunker Bradley, have you received those resources?
So thank you for that question. So we are working. Look, the secret service operates under a paradox of zero fail mission, but also that we have done more with less for decades, and this goes back many, many, many, many decades, right? 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 where he said that, you know he's going to direct his staff to make sure that the Secret Service has the resources its needs. We're having fantastic conversations with members of Congress. I've been up to the Hill last week. We are continuing to have those conversations. But the long and short of it is this, coming out of Butler, I have ordered a paradigm shift. The Secret Service's protective methodologies work and they are sound, and we saw that yesterday. But the way we are positioned right now in this dynamic threat environment, it has given me guidance to say, You know what we need to look at, what our protective methodology is. We need to get out of a reactive model and get to a readiness model. There could be another geopolitical event that could put the United States into a kinetic conflict, or some other, some other issue that may result in additional responsibilities and protectees of the United States Secret Service. And so we are working, we are making information available to all of our partners. And I just want to say that the commitment of Congress to the Secret Service throughout the years has been tremendous, and we will continue to work with them. And Secretary Mayorkas, whose support in making sure that we're getting what we need has been phenomenal. He is one of our biggest champions in our advocate. And so we're having these conversations, and I feel confident that we will get what we need. We have immediate needs too. I need to make sure that our counter snipers are the best trained counter snipers in the world, that they are exactly doing what we need them to do, and that they match counterparts in the military, in turn, one forces. And right now, we are working with Congress to make sure that we get those for our training facility. We also have the necessary need for to make sure that we're getting the personnel that we have, and that requires us to be able to have the funding to be able to hire more people. You can't just give me money and say, Hey, we're going to make sure that everybody gets overtime. Because the men and women of the Secret Service right now, we are redlining them, and they are rising to this moment, and they are meeting the challenges right now. And if you look back at their body of work over the last 60 days, the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the Republican National Convention in Chicago, a visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu, to Washington, DC and to West Palm Beach, which Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office supported, and then we'd go into the presidential debate in Philadelphia last week. And for those in the media that have been to a national special security event, if you saw the National Constitution Center last week, what you saw was pretty much a mini national special security event with the number of assets that were on that perimeter. And so our folks are rising to this moment, but it requires all of us to be able to have good conversations and make sure that we're getting the Secret Service where it needs to be. And I'm confident that we will achieve that because we don't have an alternative 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 that last question. One more. Yes, sir, did he act alone? Did he have some kind of help?
At this point, we're still exploring that investigating, that our investigation will determine that we do not have information that he's been acting with anyone else at present, our investigation is still determining that. Thank you. All
right. Anyhow, that's it. We're not going to do anymore. All right, you got a lot of information there. The last thing I will tell you is like the director of the Secret Service says, you know, the President called me last night, President Trump, he thanked me for everything that we did along with the Secret Service. He knows we work great together, and he feels safe. That's important, because he is and what we did yesterday proves that the system can work, because the suspect didn't even get close to getting the round off, and we apprehended him, brought him to justice. We're very, very proud of that. Thank you, folks for being here. I appreciate it
