Ryan Wesley Routh charged with assassination attempt of Trump
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Ryan Wesley Routh, the man who authorities say staked out Donald Trump for 12 hours on his golf course in Florida and wrote of his desire to kill him, was indicted Tuesday on charges that he attempted to assassinate a major presidential candidate.
Routh had been initially charged with two federal firearms offenses. The upgraded charges reflect the Justice Department's assessment that he methodically plotted to kill the Republican nominee, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery surrounding Trump's West Palm Beach golf course on an afternoon Trump was playing on it. Routh left behind a note in which he described his intention.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who in July dismissed a separate criminal case charging Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
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Prosecutors alleged that Routh had written of his plans to kill Trump in a handwritten note months before his Sept. 15 arrest in which he referred to his actions as a failed "assassination attempt on Donald Trump" and offered $150,000 for anyone who could "finish the job."
Prosecutors also said that he kept in his car a handwritten list of venues in August, September and October at which Trump had appeared or was expected to be present.
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The potential shooting was thwarted when a member of Trump’s Secret Service protective detail spotted a partially obscured face of man and a rifle barrel protruding through the golf course fence line, one hole ahead of where Trump was playing. The agent fired in the direction of Routh, who sped away and was stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county.
FBI investigates 2nd Trump assassination attempt
Former President Donald Trump is safe following what the FBI says "appears to be an attempted assassination" while playing golf two months after another attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania. The FBI is continuing to look into the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, and the cause of the shooting. Distinguished lecturer of homeland security & terrorism at the University of New Haven, Ken Gray, joined LiveNOW from FOX to discuss the latest developments.
Routh did not fire any rounds and did not have Trump in his line of sight, officials have said, but left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a plastic bag containing food.
The arrest came two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has acknowledged failings leading up to that shooting but has said that security worked as it should have to thwart a potential attack in Florida.
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Trump complained Monday, before the attempted assassination charges were brought, that the Justice Department was "mishandling and downplaying" the case by bringing charges that were a "slap on the wrist."
The Justice Department also said Monday that authorities who searched his car found six cellphones, including one that showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.
Secret Service details communication error in Trump attack
A U.S. Secret Service probe found communication gaps and a lack of diligence ahead of the July attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. LiveNOW from FOX host Josh Breslow spoke to Jillian Snider, Retired NYPD officer & adjunct lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice on the latest.
A notebook found in his car was filled with criticism of the Russian and Chinese governments and notes about how to join the war on behalf of Ukraine.
In addition, the detention memo cites a book authored by Routh last year in which he lambasted Trump’s approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran was "free to assassinate Trump" for having left the nuclear deal.