A man who allegedly lurked with a gun outside Donald Trump's South Florida golf course on Sept. 15 and wrote about his desire to kill Trump was indicted on Tuesday on charges of plotting to kill the Republican presidential nominee.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was indicted in South Florida federal court on five counts of attempted assassination of a political figure, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assault on a federal officer, possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He was initially charged with Charged After his arrest, he was charged with federal firearms offenses.
“Violence targeted at public servants endangers everything our country stands for, and the Department of Justice will take every step to hold Ryan Routh accountable for his role in the attempted assassination of former President Trump as charged in the indictment,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“The Department of Justice will not tolerate violence that attacks the very heart of our democracy. We will find those who perpetrate it and hold them accountable. This must stop.”
Prosecutors presented what they said was evidence of a murder plot: Routh left a letter addressed to “Dear World” in which he revealed his intention to kill Trump. The letter was placed in a box and left at the home of a person whom authorities have not identified, authorities said.
The recipient, who did not open the box – which also allegedly contained ammunition and metal pipes – contacted authorities until after Routh's arrest.
“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump and I have let you down. I did my best and mustered all the courage I had. It is up to you to finish the job. I am offering $150,000 to whoever gets the job done,” the memo, which prosecutors released in a memorandum arguing for Routh's detention, said.
Routh's memo states that former President Trump “cut ties with Iran like a child and now the Middle East is a mess,” appearing to suggest that Trump's foreign policy decisions influenced the motive for the assassination attempt.
Authorities believe Routh had been watching the golf course for a month before the assassination attempt on Trump, when he was hiding outside a fence near the sixth hole at the course. A local U.S. Secret Service agent watching the hole before Trump's party said he saw “the muzzle of a rifle aimed directly at Routh.”
As the agent began to back away, he saw the barrel of a rifle move and fired at Routh, who ran across the road from the golf course and fled in a Nissan SUV before being captured while traveling north on Interstate 95, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Routh planned to shoot Trump with a semi-automatic rifle equipped with a scope. The rifle had one bullet in the chamber and 11 more rounds in the gun, but Routh left the gun behind while fleeing, prosecutors said.
“At approximately 1:30 p.m., agents found a male's face partially concealed in brush along a fence,” the prosecutor's detention memo states, and the location was “directly across from the sixth hole.”
“The agent then noticed a long black object protruding from the fence and realized it was the barrel of a rifle pointing at him,” the complaint states. “The agent then jumped off the golf cart, drew his weapon and began to back away. When the agent saw the rifle barrel move, he fired at Routh.”
“The agent took cover behind a tree and loaded his gun, then looked up and did not see Routh. The agent radioed in to advise that agents had fired their guns and that there was an individual with a rifle.”
Authorities alleged that they searched Routh's SUV during his arrest and found “handwritten lists of dates and venues in August, September and October where the former president had attended or was expected to attend,” as well as six cell phones, one of which contained a Google search for directions from Palm Beach to Mexico City, prosecutors said.
Before the assassination attempt, Routh had had several run-ins with police. In 2002, he Report According to the Greensboro News & Record, Routh barricaded himself inside a roofing shop and a three-hour standoff escalated into a vehicle pursuit before he finally surrendered.
According to prosecutors, Ruth also has multiple second-degree felony convictions for possession of stolen property.
