Suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt was near golf course for 12 hours, records show – Orange County Register

By STEPHANY MATAT, ERIC TUCKER, TERRY SPENCER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and COLLEEN LONG

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The man suspected of conducting an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump camped outside a golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, ambushing the former president until a Secret Service agent foiled the would-be attempt and opened fire, according to court documents filed Monday.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is charged with possession of a firearm despite a prior conviction and possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number. The Justice Department did not allege that he fired any shots. Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and prosecutors seek an indictment by a grand jury.

Routh made a brief appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach, setting off a criminal case in the final weeks of a presidential campaign already marked by violence and turmoil. Although no one was injured, it was the second attempt on Trump's life in as many months and raised new questions about the security he would receive at a time of heated political rhetoric. It left Republican allies and even some Democrats wondering how a potential shooter could have gotten so close.

Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after authorities recovered a firearm from bushes on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing. He was spotted by a Secret Service agent assigned to Trump's security detail who opened fire. Routh sped away before being caught by police in a neighboring county, authorities said.

Body camera footage posted on Facebook by the Martin County Sheriff's Office on Monday showed Routh being arrested. The video shows him walking backwards along the side of the road with his hands above his head before being led away in handcuffs.

The amount of planning behind this is underlined by the fact that Routh was reportedly at the tree line of the golf course between 1:59 a.m. and 1:31 p.m. on Sunday, according to an FBI affidavit that references cell phone data. According to the affidavit, a digital camera, a loaded SKS rifle with a telescopic sight and a plastic bag of food were seized in the area where Routh was standing.

Just weeks after the July shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania where Trump was injured by a gunman's bullet, the latest assassination attempt heightened fears that violence continues to shape American presidential politics. Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's challenger in the November election, condemned the foiled attack. Harris said in a post on X: “I'm glad he's safe. Violence has no place in America.”

“We will work tirelessly to hold those responsible accountable and we will use every tool available in this investigation,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Authorities have not immediately released any new details about Routh's background, nor have they suggested a specific motive in the charging documents. But his numerous online appearances suggest that Routh has evolving political views, culminating in an apparent disdain for Trump and intense outrage over global events involving China and, in particular, Ukraine.

“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in a book apparently self-published in 2023 titled “Ukraine's Unwinnable War.” In it, he called the former president a “fool” and a “buffoon” for both the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, and the “enormous mistake” of withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.

Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and bears some of the blame for the “child we elected as our next president who turned out to be brainless.”

He also tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine's self-defense against Russia and ran a website to collect donations and volunteers to fight for Kyiv.

Voter records show that he registered as an independent voter in North Carolina in 2012 and last voted in person in the state's Democratic primary in March.

According to federal campaign finance records, Routh also made 19 small donations totaling $140 since 2019 to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates.

One of the two charges against him is that he was in illegal possession of his gun despite multiple felony convictions, including two charges of receiving stolen goods in North Carolina in 2002. The other charge is that the serial number was defaced and made unreadable to the naked eye, a violation of federal law.

After prosecutors argued that he was a flight risk, Routh was ordered detained. Further hearings are scheduled for later this month.

He spoke softly as he answered a federal judge's perfunctory questions. He said he works and makes about $3,000 a month but has no savings. Routh said he owns no real estate or assets, aside from two trucks worth about $1,000 each, both located in Hawaii. He also said he has a 25-year-old son whom he sometimes supports.

The arrest drew renewed attention to the challenges of protecting Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, not only at campaign rallies but also away from the campaign trail, often at his own clubs and properties.