Accused gunman now charged with attempting to assassinate Trump at Florida golf course

MIAMI — A man who prosecutors say set up a “sniper’s nest” in the bushes surrounding Donald Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach was indicted Tuesday on charges of attempting to kill the former president this month while he was playing on the course.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, a convicted felon, traveled from North Carolina to South Florida with a semiautomatic rifle in mid-August to carry out the attempted execution of the former president at Trump International Golf Club on Sept. 15, court documents say. Routh fled from the scene when a Secret Service agent fired at him after spotting his rifle poking through a fence, but the suspect left the weapon behind with his fingerprints on the electrical tape attached to a scope, according to the FBI.

Routh, who was ordered detained by a magistrate judge in West Palm Beach federal court on Monday, faces an arraignment on the new indictment charges next Monday, when he will enter his plea. Routh, who had been living in Hawaii, was initially arrested on charges of illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and carrying a weapon with an obliterated serial number. The new charge of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate carries up to life in prison.

Trump is facing Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election on Nov. 5.

“Violence targeting public officials endangers everything our country stands for, and the Department of Justice will use every available tool to hold Ryan Routh accountable for the attempted assassination of former President Trump charged in the indictment,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.

The Routh case was randomly assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. Cannon, who was appointed by Trump to the federal bench, recently dismissed the U.S. government’s classified documents case against the former president, saying that the special counsel who brought it was not legally appointed. The Justice Department is appealing her decision.

According to court records, when Routh fled the perimeter of the golf club after the Secret Service agent shot at him, a witness saw the suspect running across the road from the golf course and getting into a black Nissan Xterra. The witness reported the information to law enforcement, and Routh was later stopped while heading northbound on I-95 by officers from the Martin County, in coordination with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

According to an FBI criminal complaint and affidavit, FBI agents found an SKS semiautomatic rifle with an attached scope and an extended magazine where Routh had been hiding by a fence on the perimeter of the golf course. The serial number on the rifle was obliterated and unreadable. Hanging from the fence was a backpack and a reusable shopping bag — each containing a plate capable of stopping small arms fire, according to prosecutors.

FBI agents later found Routh’s documents containing a handwritten list of dates in August, September, and October and venues where the former president had appeared or was expected to be present. Records for two of the cellphones found in the Nissan Xterra showed that on multiple days and times from Aug. 18 to Sept. 15, Routh’s mobile phone accessed cell towers located near Trump International and the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.

According to prosecutors, a civilian witness in North Carolina contacted law enforcement stating that Routh had dropped off a box at his residence several months ago. The box included a handwritten letter from Routh addressed “Dear World,” which stated, among other things, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you.”

The indictment, returned by a Miami grand jury, charges Routh with attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

According to court records, Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010. The FBI is investigating the case, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Secret Service.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

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