National News
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The man suspected of carrying out an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump camped outside a golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, ambushing the previous president until a Secret Service agent foiled the would-be attempt and opened fire, based on court documents filed Monday.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is charged with possession of a firearm despite a previous conviction and possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number. The Justice Department didn’t allege that he fired any shots. Additional and more serious charges are possible because the investigation continues and prosecutors seek an indictment by a grand jury.
Handcuffed and wearing a blue jumpsuit, Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, setting off a criminal case in the ultimate weeks of a presidential campaign already marked by violence and turmoil. Although nobody was injured, it was the second attempt on Trump's life in as many months, raising latest questions on his safety and prompting Republican allies and even some Democrats to query how a possible gunman could have gotten so close.
Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after authorities recovered a firearm from bushes on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing. He was spotted by a Secret Service agent assigned to Trump's security detail who opened fire, after which Routh sped away before being caught by police in a neighboring county, authorities said.
Body camera footage posted on Facebook by the Martin County Sheriff's Office on Monday showed Routh being arrested. The video shows him walking backwards along the side of the road together with his hands above his head before being led away in handcuffs.
The amount of planning behind that is underscored by the indisputable fact that Routh was reportedly on the tree line of the golf course between 1:59 a.m. and 1:31 p.m. on Sunday, based on an FBI affidavit that references cellphone data. A digital camera, a loaded SKS rifle with a telescopic sight and a plastic bag of groceries were present in the realm where Routh was standing, based on the affidavit.
Authorities didn’t immediately release any latest details about Routh or give a selected motive. However, he left traces on the Internet that reveal his changing political beliefs and his deep outrage at global events.
“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in a book apparently self-published in 2023 titled “Ukraine's Unwinnable War.” In it, he called the previous president a “fool” and a “buffoon” for each the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, and the “enormous mistake” of withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.
Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and bears a number of the blame for the “child we elected as our next president who turned out to be brainless.”
He also tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine's self-defense against Russia and ran an internet site to gather donations and volunteers to fight for Kyiv.
One of the 2 charges against him is that he was in illegal possession of his gun despite multiple felony convictions, including two charges of receiving stolen goods in North Carolina in 2002. The other charge is that the serial number was defaced and made unreadable to the naked eye, a violation of federal law.
Routh was taken into custody after prosecutors argued he was a flight risk. He spoke softly as he answered a federal judge's perfunctory questions. He said he works and makes about $3,000 a month but has no savings.
Routh said he owns no real estate or assets, except for two trucks valued at about $1,000, each situated in Hawaii. He also said he has a 25-year-old son whom he sometimes supports.
The arrest drew renewed attention to the challenges of protecting Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, not only at campaign rallies but additionally away from the campaign trail, often at his own clubs and properties.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one in all Trump's rivals within the Republican primary, said his state would conduct its own investigation into how Routh got here so close.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw noted at a gathering that security protocols across the golf course had been relaxed because Trump was now not in office.
“He is not the sitting president. If he were, we would have had the entire golf course surrounded. But because he is not, his security is limited to the areas the Secret Service believes are possible,” he told reporters.
On July 13, a bullet grazed Trump's ear after a 20-year-old gunman gained access to an unsecured roof during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Eight days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and made Vice President Kamala Harris the party's nominee.
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