What we know so far about Ryan Routh.
More details have emerged about the suspect accused of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump earlier this month. According to court documents, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh stalked Trump for about a month before trying to shoot the presidential nominee with a semiautomatic rifle at his West Palm Beach golf course. Prosecutors said he also left a bizarre handwritten note about the attack.
Prosecutors said they intend to ask a grand jury to indict Routh on charges related to the attempted assassination; currently, he faces two weapon-related charges. A federal judge on Monday ordered that he be held without bail pending trial.
We’ve got more on Routh and what he wrote before his failed assassination attempt.
The shooting at Trump Golf Course
While Trump was playing at his course on Sept. 15, U.S. Secret Service agents noticed a man stationed outside a fence near the sixth hole. Prosecutors said Routh was pointing an AK-style rifle with a scope at the former president. The agents fired at the suspected gunman, who dropped his weapon and fled in a black Nissan, leaving behind a digital camera, a backpack, and a reusable shopping bag. Both bags contained plates, which ballistics testing showed were capable of stopping small arms fire, a court filing said.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said a witness took a picture of the car and its tag. Law enforcement officials used that information to track the vehicle on I-95, where officers were able to detain the suspect.
Within the car, agents found six cellphones, including one that had been used to Google search how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico, the filing said.
Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder told a local news station that the suspect was not armed and appeared to show little emotion when he was pulled over.
Who is Ryan Wesley Routh?
Routh, the owner of a small construction business in Hawaii, had a long list of minor offenses, which included writing bad checks, engaging in welfare fraud, and driving without insurance. But in 2002, he was arrested for something more serious: In North Carolina, Routh pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon after leading authorities in a vehicle chase, The Washington Post reports.
He also was heavily invested in the war in Ukraine, and repeatedly posted on social media that he was willing to die for the cause.
“I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE…Can I be the example We must win,” he posted to X in March 2022.
Routh did travel to Ukraine to volunteer and was even interviewed by The New York Times about his experience, although he was later flagged by U.S. government agencies for his erratic behavior. He then wrote an e-book about the war, in which he pondered why political assassination wasn’t more common.
“No one here in the U.S. appears to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection,” he wrote.
In his e-book, Routh described himself as belonging to neither party, but indicates that he voted for Trump in 2016. In 2020, he also posted on X that Trump seemed to be “getting worse and devolving” and that he “will be glad when you gone.”
What did Ryan Wesley Routh’s note say?
Three days after Routh’s arrest, a witness contacted police and told them that “Routh had dropped off a box at his residence several months prior,” court documents read.
“The witness stated the box contained ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters. One handwritten letter, addressed to ‘The World’ stated, among other things, ‘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 filing said.
In the letter, Routh also wrote: “He [the former president] ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled.”
What has Trump said about the attack?
Shortly after the incident, Trump wrote in an email to his supporters: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!” he continued.
In an update to staff, Trump’s campaign managers said that an “evil monster” had tried to take the former president’s life, adding “this is not a matter that we take lightly.”
“As we enter the last 50 days of President Trump’s campaign, we must remember that we will only be able Save America from those who seek to destroy it by working together as one team,” the memo said per NBC News. “President Trump and Senator Vance expect the best from us, and we must perform every day.”
After Routh’s hearing on Monday, Trump accused the Department of Justice of “mishandling and downplaying the second assassination attempt on my life since July.”
“The charges brought against the maniac assassin are a slap on the wrist,” he said in a statement. “It’s no wonder, since the DOJ and FBI have been coming after me nonstop with Weaponized Lawfare since I announced my first Historic Campaign for the Presidency.”
