Federal prosecutors have charged Ryan Wesley Routh, the man who was spotted with a rifle outside one of Donald Trump’s golf courses, with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate.
The development comes a day the prosecutors revealed after the gunman wrote a chilling letter months ago about an “assassination attempt” on the former president.
“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,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in the Department of Justice press release.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy, and we will find and hold accountable those who perpetrate it. This must stop,” he said.
Routh, 58, was initially charged with two gun-related offenses while the investigation continued. The charges now also include possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer, CNN reported. This is in addition to the two previous gun charges — possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
According to authorities, the former president was golfing at Trump International on Sept. 15, and a Secret Service agent conducting a perimeter security sweep saw the partially obscured face of a man — later identified as Routh — in the brush along the fence line near the sixth hole.
The agent observed the barrel of a rifle aimed directly at him. As the agent began backing away, he saw the rifle barrel move, and the agent fired at Routh as the latter fled. The suspect was arrested later and is at a detention center in South Florida.
According to the Department of Justice, a federal grand jury in Miami returned the indictment late Tuesday afternoon. The attempted assassination charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The case has been “randomly” assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who in July dismissed a criminal case against Trump where he was accused of illegally keeping classified documents after he left office.
Routh has not yet entered a plea. Prosecutors also allege that he spent a month in South Florida and cellphone data indicated his presence near the golf course and Trump’s Florida residence at Mar-a-Lago. Court filings revealed that a handwritten list of dates and venues where the former president spoke or was expected to appear was found in Routh’s possession.
In the Monday filing, prosecutors stated that Routh had dropped off a box at an unidentified person’s home “several months” prior, containing ammunition, a metal pipe, building materials, phones, “and various letters.”
In one note suggesting an “assassination attempt” on the former president, Routh implicated himself and allegedly offered a $150,000 to anyone who could complete the task in the event he failed.
