Former President Donald Trump isn't the most popular politician around, but who really is in this day and age? Regardless of how you feel about the man, trying to kill him isn't really the best of ideas. The last guy we know who tried that ended up with a terminal splitting headache and no one is really crying over the loss.

Unfortunately, someone else decided to play the FAFO sweepstakes and try to kill Trump again today, this time at Trump's own golf course.

Details are still somewhat sketchy at the moment, but it started with reports of shots fired. Trump was apparently not in any immediate danger at the time, but shots were fired.

Now, the FBI is saying it looks like an assassination attempt.

BREAKING: The FBI released this statement:

"The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump." pic.twitter.com/UfQdZLcFK4

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 15, 2024

My friend Matt Margolis is on this over at PJ Media:

Update 4:51 p.m.: The FBI now says it is investigating "what appears to be an attempted assassination of Trump." 

Update 4:22 p.m.: Martin County, Fla., Sheriff William D. Snyder told reporters that his department surrounded and intercepted the car with the suspect, whom he described as "relatively calm, flat affect... never asked what this is about." Snyder said he knows the suspect's name but declined to share that information. He is reported to be in his late 50s. 

Police immediately turned him over to the FBI, and bomb-sniffing dogs cleared the vehicle. Snyder said that all roads in the vicinity are closed by order of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump was escorted back to his Mar-a-Lago home. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) just posted on X, "Just spoke with President Trump. He is one of the strongest people I’ve ever known. He’s in good spirits and he is more resolved than ever to save our country."

Original story: 

Gunshots were reported shortly before 2 p.m. near former President Donald Trump’s International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., while the former president was playing golf. According to multiple reports, the Secret Service took Trump to safety "after agents opened fire on a man who was spotted with what may have been a gun while the former president was on the links, according to law enforcement sources."

CNN reports that "police believe an armed individual intended to target Trump." 

At least some reports claim the would-be assassin had an "AK-47," among other things.

The suspect fled in an SUV and was later apprehended in Martin County, the officials said. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity about an ongoing investigation.

An AK-style firearm was recovered at the scene near Trump's golf course, one of the officials and a third law enforcement official said.

The golf course was partially shut down for Trump as he played, and agents were a few holes ahead of him when they noticed the person with the firearm, the officials said. The person appeared to push the muzzle of the rifle through the fence line and that's when agents fired, the officials said

Trump's campaign and the Secret Service said Trump was safe, and the agency said it was investigating the incident that occurred shortly before 2 p.m.

Now, this is still pretty new, so a lot of information is likely to change as law enforcement learns more. The identification of the weapon might change, information about the shooter, anything could be different come morning, so don't read too much into it.

What we do know is that this is the second attempt on Trump's life during this campaign season. 

At some point, as a society, we've got to come to recognize that continuing to demonize people who disagree with us is going to have consequences. You can't keep acting like someone is an existential threat to everything, and then be shocked when someone tries to take them out.

No, we don't know this would-be killer's motivation, but does it matter? If you create a narrative that someone is evil, regardless of someone's motivation, they're going to think they're right to kill that person.

As we move on, we're going to have a lot of discussions, including about the gun, gun control, and the works.

Never forget, however, that at the end of the day, it was someone who wanted to kill another that was the problem, and that people with guns stopped them.