New Details Emerge About Ryan Routh As Judge Rules to Keep Him Jailed
New details emerged about the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump as a judge ruled to keep him locked up on Monday.
The Justice Department alleged that 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh expressed a desire to kill the former president in a note and kept a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump was expected to appear.
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Routh is charged with possession of a firearm while a former felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
While Routh did not fire any shots on September 15, a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle sticking out of the fence of the golf course. Routh fled the scene and was arrested later that day.
The FBI said Trump survived “what appears to be an assassination attempt.“
Ryan Wesley Routh allegedly expressed interest in killing former president Donald Trump in a note, according to the Justice Department. Routh is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Trump was unharmed in the incident. It was the second assassination attempt on Trump in a period of about two months.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe ruled to detain Routh without bond at the three-hour detention hearing in Florida.
The FBI connected Routh to the rifle found at the scene via a fingerprint on tape attached to the weapon, federal prosecutors claimed.
The Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is shown after Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, suspected in an apparent assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump, attended a hearing, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. A magistrate judge ruled Routh will remain in custody as he awaits trial.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
New details about Routh were included in a detention memo filed by the Justice Department. The department argued that Routh should remain in jail while his case proceeds.
A note that said “Dear World” was left at the home of an unidentified person who contacted law enforcement after Routh was arrested.
The letter allegedly is written as if the assassination attempt was unsuccessful. It was inside of a box that also contained ammunition, a metal pipe and other items. The person who received the box did not open it until after Routh was arrested.
“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,” the note said, according to prosecutors.
Law enforcement officers patrol outside the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, where Ryan Wesley Routh, suspected in an apparent assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump, will be attending a hearing, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. New details were released about Routh ahead of the hearing.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Authorities who searched Routh’s car found a handwritten list of dates in August, September and October with where Trump has appeared or was expected to appear, prosecutors said.
Officials also found six cell phones, one of which showed a search of how to travel from Palm Beach to Mexico. A notebook found in the car contained criticisms of the Russian and Chinese governments and information on how to join Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Routh was interviewed by Newsweek Romania in 2022 about his efforts to recruit volunteers for the International Legion Defense of Ukraine, a unit of Ukraine’s Ground Forces.
Cell phone records allegedly indicate that Routh traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina to West Palm Beach in mid-August and he was near Trump’s golf club and Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and times” between August 18 and September 15.
Routh is scheduled to appear in court again on September 30, where he is expected to enter a formal plea on the charges he is facing.
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