The FBI revealed that the man arrested for the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump had a list of dates and venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to appear, as well as a cellphone with searches on how to get from West Palm Beach to Mexico. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, left a handwritten letter with a man months prior to the incident, confessing to the assassination attempt. Routh appeared in court for a pretrial detention hearing and was denied bond, with federal prosecutors planning to charge him with attempted assassination of a political figure, which carries a potential life sentence.
After the apparent assassination attempt on Trump, Routh was charged with federal firearms offenses. The Secret Service agent spotted him with a rifle outside Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, but no shots were fired at Trump. Routh fled the scene and was later arrested about 50 miles away. The FBI found multiple items in Routh’s vehicle, including additional license plates, cellphones, gloves, a Hawaii driver’s license, and documents. One of the phones contained a Google search on how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico, as well as a handwritten list of Trump’s appearances.
Further evidence obtained by the FBI indicated Routh’s movements from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach on certain dates. The suspect’s cellphone accessed towers near Trump’s golf course and residence on multiple occasions leading up to the incident. A fingerprint matching Routh’s was found on a piece of tape attached to the rifle recovered from the scene. The FBI received information from a witness who said Routh had left a box containing ammunition, tools, phones, and letters at his home months before the incident. Routh has prior convictions for possession of a weapon of mass destruction and possession of stolen goods.
The assassination attempt on Trump outside his South Florida golf course occurred just weeks after he was injured in a separate attack at a rally in Pennsylvania. The gunman in that incident shot Trump in the ear, and another rally attendee was killed. This raised questions regarding the Secret Service’s protection of the former president and how the shooter was able to access the roof near Trump’s speaking location. An internal review found communication issues and a lack of due diligence by the Secret Service. Despite the scrutiny, the Secret Service director stated that Trump has the highest levels of protection, and the procedures and redundancies in place are effective in preventing attacks on him.
