The suspect in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump had previously been under FBI surveillance, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri said at a press conference on Monday.
Veltri Special Agents in Charge of the Miami District Office said the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was the subject of a tip received by the office in 2019 for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“And following the tip, the alleged whistleblower was questioned but did not substantiate the initial information he provided. The FBI passed that information on to local police and to Honolulu,” Veltri said. said At a press conference at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Veltri noted that Routh was indicted and convicted of possession of a weapon of mass destruction in North Carolina in 2002 after he allegedly barricaded himself in a standoff with police. Greensboro News & Record attention Once the standoff was over, Routh was arrested and “charged with carrying a concealed weapon of mass destruction and possession of a weapon of mass destruction, a fully automatic machine gun,” the report said.
“The law enforcement investigation also revealed that the suspect had been charged with multiple felony theft offenses between 1997 and 2010,” Veltri said.
The press conference came the day after the attempted assassination of President Trump on a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. It was the second attempt to assassinate President Trump in two months, the first being in July when a gunman struck him in the ear and left his face covered in blood as he addressed a crowd at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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Breitbart News reported that Routh was hiding in bushes near the Trump International Golf Course, waiting for Trump to come into view as he was playing a round of golf. Federal prosecutors said Monday that Routh had been hiding there for about 12 hours before the attack.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Routh was carrying a rifle with a scope, a backpack and a Go-Pro.
Breitbart News reported:
Secret Service agents, who appeared to be a hole or two ahead of Trump to secure the area while he was playing golf, encountered Routh before he fired shots at the 45th president.
Deputies appear to have fired shots at Routh, who then fled the scene in a vehicle. Witnesses were able to capture photos of the getaway vehicle and its license plate, the sheriff's office said. From there, police cornered and detained the suspect.
The FBI has said it is currently investigating what it believes to be a second assassination attempt on President Trump, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (Republican) has announced that the state will be conducting its own investigation separate from the federal investigation.
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Veltri said FBI agents had attempted to interview Routh, but “he has exercised his right to an attorney within the last 24 hours.”
Veltri said multiple law enforcement agencies are working to obtain and execute search warrants for Routh's vehicles and equipment, including at his former addresses. The FBI is also interviewing Secret Service agents at the scene and seven civilian witnesses. The bureau's Honolulu and Charlotte field offices have begun interviewing several family members, friends and former coworkers, Veltri said.
“The suspect is active online and we are looking into the content he posts and the searches he conducts online,” he added.
Routh seemed to be obsessed with the Ukrainian war, and on the Ukrainian side Interviewed By The New York Times She spoke about recruiting volunteers to travel to Ukraine to fight Russia, reportedly had a Biden-Harris bumper sticker on the truck outside her Hawaii home, and has donated 19 times to the Democratic Party, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
“Furthermore, we are reviewing media reports and public statements in which he has stated he wants to recruit Afghan soldiers and others to fight for Ukraine,” Bertoli said.
