Prosecutors announced on Tuesday that Ryan Routh has been charged with attempting to kill former president Donald Trump.
Prosecutors said during a pretrial detention hearing for Routh on Monday that they were seeking to charge Routh for attempted assassination. A grand jury in Florida decided to indict Routh on Tuesday for attempting to kill Trump, as well as four other charges, adding to two federal gun charges the 58-year-old was already facing.
“Routh is charged with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, which strikes at the very heart of our democratic system,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “The FBI is continuing our investigation into this alleged plot and will use the full weight and resources of the FBI to uncover and provide as much information as possible about what led to the events in West Palm Beach. In our country, we have to hold accountable people who resort to violence.”
In addition to a charge of attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, the grand jury indicted Routh with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Routh hid in the treeline on the outskirts of Trump International Golf Course on September 15, according to prosecutors. Routh, armed with a rifle, was hiding in wait for Trump when Secret Service agents saw the barrel of Routh’s rifle and opened fire, court documents said.
Routh fled the scene, but was apprehended by law enforcement after a witness saw him take off in a black Nissan Xterra, prosecutors said. Law enforcement searched Routh’s vehicle and found “a handwritten list of dates in August, September, and October and venues where the former President had appeared or was expected to be present,” according to the Department of Justice.
In a box Routh left with a “civilian witness,” Routh wrote a handwritten letter addressed to “Dear World,” which stated, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you,” prosecutors said.