The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Tuesday attempted murder of Ryan Rouththe suspect want to kill former president Donald Trump (2017-2021) on September 15 on a golf course in Florida and who was already facing federal firearms charges for the same case.
A new position of attempted murder of a presidential candidate was added to the charge Tuesday. “Violence against public officials endangers everything our country stands for,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracyand we will find and hold accountable those who commit these acts,” he added.
On Monday, the prosecutor’s office released a handwritten letter from Routh, 58, in which he details his plan to kill Trump and regrets not having succeeded. In the manuscript, the suspect confessed: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but “I’m so sorry I let you down.”
Routh had previously been accused of two weapons-related crimesincluding removing the serial number from a firearm and possessing a firearm while a convicted felon. At a hearing Monday in a West Palm Beach courtroom, Judge Ryon McCabe refused to grant bail to the accused.
The case will now be overseen by Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed under the Trump administration and who oversaw and then dismissed the case. mishandling of classified documents against the former president.
On the day of the incident, the man was seen by a police officer Secret serviceWHO He was found armed with a semi-automatic rifle. hidden behind bushes lined up near the sixth hole of a West Palm Beach golf course owned by Trump, at a time when he was with a group of friends one hole behind.
The officer noticed the gun and shot the suspect, who fled without firing his weapon at any time, prosecutors said. Routh was arrested by local police while driving a vehicle northbound on an interstate highway.
The agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, in English) later found a loaded rifle in the area with the serial number scratched and illegible, as well as a rifle scope, a digital camera, a backpack and a bag. Routh, who currently resides in Hawaii and has a criminal record in other states, wrote that he felt guilty about electing a president “who ended up being stupid.”
In an unrelated case, Oran Alexander Routh, the suspect’s son, was arrested Tuesday on federal charges of possession of child pornographyaccording to court documents.
