By Dan McCaleb and Brett Rowland (The Center Square)
Federal authorities on Tuesday secured an indictment charging Ryan Wesley Routh with the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
The indictment also charges Routh with four other counts, including knowingly possessing a firearm during a crime of violence; and forcibly assaulting, intimidating and interfering with a Secret Service agent.
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“On or about September 15, 2024, in Palm Beach County, in the Southern District of Florida, the defendant, Ryan Wesley Routh, did intentionally attempt to kill former President of the United States Donald J. Trump, a major Presidential candidate,” the indictment reads.
Trump was playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach when a Secret Service agent scouting the course about a hole ahead of the Republican candidate for president spotted a rifle sticking out from the tree line. The agent fired in the direction of the rifle before a witness told authorities Routh sped away in a Nissan sport utility vehicle. Local police pulled Routh over and arrested him a short time later.
Routh’s cell phone records indicated he had been camped out from 1:59 a.m. to 1:31 p.m., according to a criminal complaint filed earlier in the federal case.
A photo of the nest showed two bags hanging from a fence off the sixth hole. An FBI agent said the bags contained plates that could stop small arms fire. In between the two bags was an SKS rifle with a scope. Agents matched a fingerprint on the rifle to Routh, The Center Square previously reported.
Prosecutors said Routh had been planning to kill the former president for months.
Agents found in Routh’s Nissan Xterra a handwritten list of dates in August, September, and October 2024 and venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to be present.
Routh also left a note.
Routh, resident of Hawaii and North Carolina and participant in the latter’s March 5 primary, left the note with a person federal prosecutors described as a civilian witness several months before the Sept. 15 incident. According to court records filed Monday, the person reached out to law enforcement on Wednesday. The letter offered money to anyone who would finish the job.
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The letter reads in part, “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. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
Routh’s attorney chalked it all up to a publicity stunt.
Previously, Routh was charged on two weapons counts; possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
If convicted on the attempted assassination charge, Routh faces life in prison.
Routh’s alleged attempt on Trump’s life was the second in about two months.
On July 13 at a campaign rally in Butler, Penn., Trump was grazed in the ear by a sniper on a metal rooftop near the venue. One man was killed and two others were injured in the July attempted assassination.
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.