‘This was an assassination attempt’: Suspect left note about trying to kill Trump, feds say
The accused gunman arrested last week in what the FBI is investigating as an apparent attempt on Donald Trump’s life left a note months earlier with an acquaintance discussing a failed attempt to kill the former president, according to a new federal court filing.
The Monday filing came just hours before the suspect, 58-year-old Ryan Routh, appeared in court for a detention hearing in West Palm Beach. Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe ultimately agreed with prosecutors that Routh is a danger to the community and poses a flight risk, and ordered him detained ahead of his trial.
In the filing, prosecutors said cell phone records indicated that Routh had traveled to South Florida from North Carolina more than a month before he was spotted with an assault-style rifle at the former president’s West Palm Beach golf course. There, they said in court, he set up a “sniper’s nest” along a fence perimeter in an attempt to assassinate Trump, leaving behind evidence of the rifle with his finger prints on it.
They also said Routh had been in West Palm Beach since Aug. 14, and that cell towers had located his phone near Trump International Golf Club and the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach on various occasions between Aug. 18 and Sept. 15.
In ordering Routh to be held in jail, McCabe said the accused gunman had traveled to Florida “to stalk former President Trump in an attempt to assassinate him,” citing prosecutors’ “substantial evidence” during the three-hour hearing. The judge also noted that Routh’s fingerprints were found on the electrical tape used to attach a scope to the rifle found at the scene.
Routh was arrested on Sept. 15 after Secret Service personnel spotted the muzzle of a rifle sticking out of the tree line surrounding the golf course, where Trump was playing a round of golf. A Secret Service agent, who was doing a sweep of the course, saw part of Routh’s face in the bushes before firing in his direction, authorities said. He fled the scene before he was taken into custody by police in neighboring Martin County.
INTERACTIVE: How close was golf course gunman to Trump? This map lets you see for yourself
Routh was charged last week with possessing a gun with a scratched out serial number and with possessing a firearm illegally as a felon. Both charges levied against Routh — who has a prior criminal history from an incident more than 20 years ago in North Carolina in which he barricaded himself inside a building while wielding a gun — are felonies, carrying a combined maximum fine of $500,000 and up to 20 years in prison.
Trump raises doubts about fed investigation
Routh has not yet been charged in the apparent assassination attempt on Trump. Prosecutors said in court on Monday that they plan to charge Routh with attempting to assassinate a former president — a charge that they said carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Trump, meanwhile, raised doubts on Monday about the FBI and Justice Department’s ability to investigate and prosecute the apparent assassination attempt, claiming in a statement that federal law enforcement was biased against him.
He said that the gun-related charges against Routh were nothing more than “a slap on the wrist,” and threw his support behind a separate state-level investigation launched by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after Routh’s arrest last week.
“If the DOJ and FBI cannot do their job honestly and without bias, and hold the aspiring assassin responsible to the full extent of the Law, Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida have already agreed to take the lead on the investigation and prosecution,” Trump said. “Florida charges would be much more serious than the ones the FBI has announced.”
READ MORE: State investigation of attempt on Trump’s life necessary for ‘credibility,’ DeSantis says
‘Sniper’s position’ in bushes near sixth hole, feds say
Mark Dispoto, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, claimed in court that Routh had created “a sniper’s position, something you would see in a movie or a war zone,” in the bushes near the fence on the perimeter of the golf course so he could try to shoot Trump on the putting green on the sixth hole, 100 feet away.
Kristy Militello, the assistant federal public defender assigned to Routh, argued that Routh hasn’t been charged yet by a grand jury, and that no probable cause has been established by a judge that would warrant his pre-trial detention. She said that the government failed to show that Routh is a danger to the community.
“There is no direct evidence that Mr. Routh ever touched the firearm,” Militello said.
‘An assassination attempt on Donald Trump’
In Monday’s court filing, investigators revealed that three days after Routh’s arrest, an unnamed witness told law enforcement that Routh had dropped off a box at his home several months before the apparent assassination attempt. The box, which the witness opened after learning of Routh’s arrest, contained a smattering of items, including ammunition, building materials, four cell phones and handwritten letters.
One of those letters, which was addressed to “The World,” outlined Routh’s plans, stating, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.” In the letter, Routh offered a $150,000 reward “to whomever can complete the job.”
Among the grievances outlined in the letter is that Trump “ended relations with Iran” and that, consequently, “the Middle East has unraveled.”
FBI Special Agent Christian Hull said in court testimony on Monday that investigators found another letter, addressed to The New York Times, near the scene of the crime at Trump’s golf course. Hull testified that investigators had discovered a latent fingerprint on that letter, but said that it belonged, not to Routh, but another individual, who was not identified.
Handwritten notes with Trump dates
Routh, wearing a navy blue inmate uniform and cuffs on his wrists and ankles in Monday’s court hearing, has a criminal history dating back more than two decades. He was convicted in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 2002 for possessing an explosive device. He was convicted again in North Carolina in 2010 on multiple counts of possessing stolen goods, according to authorities.
Originally from North Carolina, Routh most recently lived in Hawaii. In Monday’s filing, authorities said they found a Hawaii driver’s license in Routh’s name in his car, along with six cell phones. One of those phones contained a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.
Investigators also said that law enforcement found handwritten notes, including one containing a list of dates and locations where Trump had been or was scheduled to appear. A notebook recovered from the vehicle was filled with “names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine, and notes criticizing the governments of China and Russia.”
The vehicle that Routh had fled in — a black Nissan Xterra — also bore a license plate that was not registered to the car, according to the court filing. The plate had been stolen from a vehicle in Florida, prosecutors said in court.
Routh has been held in custody since his arrest last week after an initial hearing before McCabe. He was assigned a federal public defender last Monday after he told McCabe that, while he has a job earning $3,000 a month, he has no money in the bank and owns no real estate. Speaking calmly and politely, he said he supports one adult son.
“From what I’m hearing, you have little to no assets,” McCabe said to Routh.
Waited for nearly 12 hours at course: feds
An affidavit filed last Monday suggests that investigators believe he had been waiting at the golf course overnight for nearly 12 hours when he was first spotted by a Secret Service agent surveilling the course ahead of Trump as the former president played a round of golf.
The document states that Routh’s cell phone signal confirmed that he arrived at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach just before 2 a.m. Sunday and remained there until he was spotted at 1:31 p.m. The document states that law enforcement found a plastic bag filled with food, a GoPro camera and a loaded SKS-style rifle in the treeline where the gunman had been spotted by the Secret Service.
The FBI special agent who signed the affidavit, Mark A. Thomas, noted that such weapons aren’t sold in Florida, meaning it was likely brought into the state from elsewhere, rather than purchased locally.
The document also states that when Routh was stopped by sheriff’s deputies on the highway at 2:14 p.m. Sept. 15, he said he knew why he was being pulled over. The license tag on the Nissan SUV he was driving was lifted from a Ford truck that had been reported stolen, Thomas wrote.
Last Monday, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Markenzy Lapointe and other local and federal authorities said at an afternoon news conference at the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office that the investigation is in its “early stages,” with a focus on “an apparent assassination attempt on former President Trump.”
The FBI has executed search warrants to gather evidence on Routh, including video recordings, cell phones, other electronic devices and vehicles, along with interviewing seven civilian witnesses who were at or near the West Palm Beach golf course and Routh’s family members in North Carolina and Hawaii.
Agents are also analyzing Routh’s social media posts and his reported efforts to recruit Afghanis to fight in Ukraine against Russia.
Asked if Routh acted alone or with others, Miami FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri said: “We’re still exploring that” but so far “we don’t have information that he acted with anyone else.”
Asked about the Secret Service’s protection of former President Trump on Sept. 15, Acting Special Agent in Charge Ronald L. Rowe Jr. said the president’s golf game was not on his schedule. But he stressed that since the first assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania in July, the FBI has heightened its security for Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris to top levels.
Rowe said that when the Secret Service agent fired shots at a rifle barrel sticking through the shrubs at the golf course, Routh did not shoot back.
“The subject [Routh] did not fire or get off any shots at our agent,” Rowe said.
