Blinken arrives in Haiti to show US support for fighting gang violence

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Thursday in Haiti to reaffirm the U.S. government’s commitment to a multinational mission to fight gangs in the Caribbean country and push for long-awaited general elections as he supported consideration of a peacekeeping operation.

Some 400 Kenyan police have been deployed to Haiti to lead a U.N.-backed mission to quell gang violence in the Haitian capital and beyond, but concerns have grown that the mission lacks resources.

“At this critical moment, we do need more funding, we do need more personnel to sustain and carry out the objectives of this mission,” Blinken told reporters.

He added that the U.S. is working to renew the mission, “but we also want to make sure that we have something that’s reliable, that’s sustainable. We’ll look at every option to do that. A peacekeeping operation would be one such option.”

On Wednesday, Brian Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, confirmed the U.S. government is considering a U.N. peacekeeping operation as one way to secure money and resources to fight gangs that control 80% of Haiti’s capital.

Many Haitians have rejected the proposal of another peacekeeping operation, given the introduction of cholera and sexual abuse cases that occurred when U.N. troops were last in Haiti.

Blinken arrived a day after Haiti’s government extended a state of emergency to the entire country. It had been imposed earlier in the year in the capital and surrounding areas in an attempt to stem the ongoing violence.

Blinken met with Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille and a nine-member transitional presidential council that was created after former Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned. He also met with unspecified political party leaders, the head of the multinational mission and the chief of Haiti’s National Police.

He said the discussions centered in part on how to ensure that security personnel are well-trained, well=equipped and held accountable, adding that there's a “clear plan” on the mission's next steps. Talks also focused on the need to hold general elections.

“That is the critical next step,” he said. “We want to make sure Haiti is back on a clear democratic track.”

Haiti last held elections in 2016, and officials since then have blamed gang violence and political upheaval for preventing them from holding new ones.

In July 2021, former President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated, and gang violence since then has surged. In February, gangs launched coordinated attacks on police stations and the main international airport, which remained closed for nearly three months. They also stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

The violence subsided somewhat before the first contingent of Kenyan police arrived in late June, with Blinken noting that economic activity has restarted in some areas of Port-au-Prince, and that joint operations have led to successes including regaining control of Haiti's biggest public hospital.

However, gangs continue to attack communities surrounding Port-au-Prince.

“Taking back the streets from gangs is critical,” Blinken said.

After meeting with officials in Haiti, Blinken is scheduled to fly Thursday night to the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.

On Friday, he is scheduled to meet with Dominican President Luis Abinader and other officials before returning to the U.S. later that day.

Nichols said the talks with Abinader will focus on three priorities: strengthening economic ties, advancing values including respect for human and labor rights and promoting increased security in the region, especially in Haiti.

Abinader has come under fire in recent years for his administration’s treatment of Haitian migrants and those born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents.

He also has largely closed the airspace with Haiti and is building a wall between the two nations.

People walk down a street covered with trash in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Police officers patrol a street near the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

People walk down a street covered with trash in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A truck drives past a police officer standing guard outside the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

The plane that carried U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A street vendor walks past police officers ahead of the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in sunglasses, speaks with Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission Commander Godfrey Otunge in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in sunglasses, and Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission Commander Godfrey Otunge chat at the MSS base in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

Commander of the Multinational Security Support Mission Commander Godfrey Otunge, third from right, shows U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, fourth from right, armored vehicles the U.S. government donated at the MSS base in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, greets the Haitian National Police General Director Rameau Normal upon arriving at the MSS base for a meeting in Port Au Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, and Haitian Transitional Presidential Council Coordinator Edgard Leblanc Fils speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, top right, and Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille arrive to speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

People watch the motorcade of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, and Haitian Transitional Presidential Council Coordinator Edgard Leblanc Fils, left, arrive to speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, front, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken enter the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence after speaking to the press in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

A plane that carried U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, and Haitian Transitional Presidential Council Coordinator Edgard Leblanc Fils speak to the press at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

Kenyan police officers, part of a UN-backed multinational force, drive past residents in armored vehicles on the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Kenyan police officers, part of a UN-backed multinational, work to tow away a broken down armored car during an operation in the Delmas neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A man walks near armored vehicles of Kenyan police officers part of a UN-backed multinational in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is safe following what the FBI says "appears to be an attempted assassination” while playing golf two months after another attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Local authorities said the U.S. Secret Service agents protecting Trump fired at a man pointing an AK-style rifle with a scope as Trump was playing on one of his Florida golf courses in West Palm Beach.

Here are five things to know about what happened Sunday to the Republican presidential nominee.

Law enforcement officials said the man who pointed the rifle and was arrested is Ryan Wesley Routh. The officials identified the suspect to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Records show Routh, 58, lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving in 2018 to Kaaawa, Hawaii, where he and his son operated a company building sheds, according to an archived version of the webpage for the business.

Routh frequently posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and had a website where he sought to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to Kyiv to join the fight against the Russian invasion. In June 2020, he made a post on X directed at then-President Trump to say he would win reelection if he issued an executive order for the Justice Department to prosecute police misconduct. That year, he also posted in support of the Democratic presidential campaign of then-U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who has since left the party and endorsed Trump.

However, in recent years, his posts suggest he soured on Trump, and he expressed support for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In July, following the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania, Routh urged Biden and Harris to visit those wounded in the shooting at the hospital and to attend the funeral of a former fire chief killed at the rally.

Voter records show he registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, most recently voting in person during the state’s Democratic Party primary in March 2024. Federal campaign finance records show Routh made 19 small political donations totaling $140 since 2019 using his Hawaii address to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates.

Records show that while living in Greensboro, North Carolina, Routh had multiple run-ins with law enforcement. He was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, according to online North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records.

The records do not provide details about the case. But a News & Record story from 2002 says a man with the same name was arrested after a three-hour standoff with police. The story says he was pulled over during a traffic stop, put his hand on a gun and barricaded himself inside a roofing business. He owned the roofing company, according to state incorporation filings.

Local authorities said the gunman was about 400 yards to 500 yards away from Trump and hiding in shrubbery while the former president was playing a round of golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

Ric Bradshaw, sheriff of Palm Beach County, said that when people get into the shrubbery around the course, “they’re pretty much out of sight.” Bradshaw said the entire golf course would have been lined with law enforcement if Trump were the sitting president, but because he’s not, “security is limited to the areas the Secret Service deems possible.”

Trump’s protective detail has been higher than some of his peers because of his high visibility and his campaign to seek the White House again. His security was bolstered days before the July assassination attempt in Pennsylvania because of a threat on Trump’s life from Iran, U.S. officials said.

In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”

His running mate, JD Vance, and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said they spoke with Trump after the incident, and both said he was in “good spirits.” Trump also checked in with several Fox News hosts.

Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close friend of the former president's, said on air that he spoke with Trump and his golf partner, Steve Witkoff, afterward. They told Hannity they had been on the fifth hole when they heard a “pop pop, pop pop.” Within seconds, he said Witkoff recounted, Secret Service agents “pounced on” Trump and “covered him” to protect him.

Moments later, Witkoff said, a “fast cart” with steel reinforcement and other protection was able to whisk Trump away.

Hannity said Trump’s reaction after this happened — and when it was clear that everyone, including Witkoff, was safe — was to quip that he was sad he hadn’t been able to finish the hole since he “was even and had a birdie putt.”

Harris, Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential election, posted on X that she had been briefed on the reports of gunshots fired.

“I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”

The White House said President Joe Biden and Harris would be kept updated on the investigation. The White House added it was “relieved” to know Trump is safe.

Trump has not announced any changes to his schedule and is set to speak live on X on Monday night from his Mar-a-Lago resort to launch his sons’ crypto platform.

Meanwhile, the leaders of a congressional bipartisan task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump said they have requested a briefing by the Secret Service.

“We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms,” Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., said in a statement. They said the task force will share updates.

U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat who is part of the task force, said he “will seek answers about what happened today and then.”

Ryan Wesley Routh holds up a banner during a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine on Saturday April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Photos that show an AK-47 rifle, a backpack and a Go-Pro camera on a fence outside Trump International Golf Club taken after an apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, are displayed during a news conference at the Palm Beach County Main Library, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)

This photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Sheriff's vehicles surrounding an SUV on the northbound I-95 in Martin County on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)