Authorities in Martin County, Florida, released a 30-second video Monday of the moment they arrested Ryan Wesley Routh on suspicion of attempting to assassinate presidential candidate Donald Trump while he was golfing in Florida. Officers captured the gunman after fleeing for nearly an hour by road.
Ryan Routh made his first appearance Monday in federal court in West Palm Beach, where he appeared handcuffed and dressed in a prison uniform. In a hearing that lasted just under 10 minutes, led by Magistrate Ryon McCabe, prosecutors charged Routh with two counts: possession of a firearm while a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Moment of arrest of man who wanted to kill Trump in Florida
Moments before the arraignment, police said the serial number of the AK-47 rifle seized at the scene and with which the suspect is believed to have intended to shoot Trump had been scraped off.
In court, Routh, 58, said he has no savings, that his only assets are two trucks currently in Hawaii, and that he earns about $3,000 a month. He also has a 25-year-old son. A bail hearing has been set for Sept. 23 and an arraignment hearing for Sept. 30, with additional charges likely to be added as the investigation progresses, as announced today.
Trump has suffered two assassination attempts in just over two months. On July 13, Thomas Mathew Crooks, just 20 years old, was killed by Secret Service agents seconds after firing about eight shots at the president as he attended a rally in Pennsylvania.
