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Trump at higher risk of assassination than other former presidents thanks to 'public enemy' rhetoric: expert
Fox News
Former President Trump's two assassination attempts in recent months are unique to him as inflammatory political rhetoric spirals during the 2024 election, a security expert says.
"We're getting a lot of hatred on both sides, and a lot of these comments that really do – like I said – embolden people to think that they're going to ‘fix the problem,’" said Gene Petrino, a retired SWAT commander for Florida's Plantation Police Department for 26 years and an expert on active shooter incidents who spoke to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. "‘They can't let this happen. We can't lose our freedoms. We can't lose this.’ And I'm not picking sides, and I have seen both sides do it. But unfortunately, Trump has been labeled as public enemy No. 1 for democracy." "You have these keyboard warriors. It's like a drug. They go out, and they spew all their hate and venom online. [The internet] has allowed these people, for them to stew in their own psychosis."
Petrino added: "He's just got a higher footprint, so to speak, of who would be assassinated," among former presidents.
Trump was safely escorted from his golf club in West Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon when a man identified as Ryan Routh allegedly directed the muzzle of a rifle through a chain-link fence toward where Trump was located on the green. Routh was arrested shortly after while trying to flee in his car and authorities are investigating the incident as an apparent assassination attempt.