A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has formally indicted Ryan Wesley Routh on charges of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
The five-count indictment involves just one count of attempted murder at Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla. The other three counts are firearm-related and the third is assault-related.
The Justice Department said Routh had been planning the attack for some time and had been scouting the golf course for nearly a month.
Indictment
Prosecutors allege that Routh, 58, tried to kill Trump after waiting 12 hours at Trump International Golf Club, where Secret Service agents found Routh's SKS rifle and fired at the would-be assassin.
Routh easily set up a sniper's nest and waited there undetected. The Secret Service did not search the perimeter of the golf course before Trump began his round, which Acting Director Ron Lowe explained was not on Trump's schedule.
Martin County sheriff's deputies arrested Routh on Interstate 95 North after he fled the scene in a Nissan Xterra SUV.
The first charge was that Routh “intentionally attempted to kill Mr. Trump.” Later, as a convicted felon, he was also charged with three gun offenses.
possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
The indictment also alleges that Routh “forcibly assaulted, resisted, impeded, threatened or obstructed” a Secret Service agent “with the intent to commit another felony, which is assassination.”
Routh did not break laws that punish the attempted assassination of a sitting President or Vice President. Instead, he broke laws that punish the assassination of a U.S. Senator, Representative, Supreme Court Justice, top intelligence officer, or leading presidential or vice presidential candidates.
Routh faces a possible life sentence for attempted assassination.
Plan details
In a news release announcing the indictment, the Department of Justice said Routh must have been planning to kill Trump for months, and that he had been scouting the golf course for almost a month.
The DOJ explained:
According to a motion filed in court, FBI agents found handwritten documents listing dates and venues in August, September and October where the former president had attended or was expected to attend.
Records from two of the cells found in the Nissan Xterra showed that Routh's cell phone accessed cell towers near Trump International and the former president's Mar-a-Lago residence on multiple dates and times between August 18 and September 15.
And, more ominously, a witness told authorities that the would-be assassin had “left a box” at his home “several months ago.” As The New American reported as the de facto evidence for Routh's detention, inside the box was a handwritten letter from Routh addressed to “Dear World,” which read, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump and I am truly sorry that we disappointed you.”
“I have done my best and have put all the courage I had into this,” the letter continued. “It is now up to you to finish the job. I will offer $150,000 to anyone who finishes the job.”
Routh's Book
Rouse certainly harbored a deep-seated hatred for Trump, and that hatred may have been amplified, if not fueled, by Democratic Party officials and the Trump-hating left-wing media, who have repeatedly called Trump a “threat” to democracy. U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (New York) has said that Trump “must be removed.”
In his book, Ukraine's Unwinnable War, Rouse complains that Trump has abandoned the nuclear arms deal with Iran. He calls Trump a “fool” and a “clown” and writes:
Ultimately, I share some of the blame for the retarded child who elected us as the next president, but I want to be a man, admit that I made a terrible error and lapse in judgment, and apologize to Iran.
However, as of February 2023, when the book was published, Routh was still plotting to assassinate President Trump.
Feel free to assassinate not only me but also Trump for that error of judgment and for breaking the agreement.
But Rouse's hatred of Trump appears to be a recent development: He has supported a range of politicians on X, including Trump, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Criminal history
As the Department of Justice noted, Routh is a convicted felon, and his criminal history dates back to 1998, according to a New American report citing the Greensboro News & Record. His criminal record strongly suggests that Routh is an emotionally unstable person.
Police arrested him about 100 times, according to the paper, and in 2002 he barricaded himself in a building with an automatic machine gun for three hours.
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a weapon of mass destruction, obstructing a police officer and resisting arrest.
