A man accused of concealing himself with a firearm near Donald Trump's Florida golf course in what appears to be an attempt to assassinate the former president had previously penned a letter detailing an "assassination attempt" and offering a bounty on Trump's life, according to U.S. prosecutors. Ryan Routh, 58, has been charged with two firearm offenses after allegedly aiming a rifle through the tree line on September 15 while the Republican presidential candidate was golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, as per a criminal complaint. Routh has not yet entered a plea.
Routh is scheduled to appear at a hearing set to commence at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Monday, where prosecutors will request a judge to keep him incarcerated until his trial. In a court filing prior to the hearing, prosecutors revealed that months before the incident, Routh had left a handwritten letter addressed to "the world" offering a bounty on Trump. "This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you," the suspect wrote, as per the filing. "I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job."
The letter was discovered in a box provided by an unidentified civilian witness, which also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, and four phones, according to prosecutors. Additionally, when Routh was apprehended this month, his vehicle held a handwritten list of dates in August, September, and October for locations where Trump had appeared or was expected to appear. A search of his cellphone records indicated that the devices had connected to towers near the Trump International golf course where the incident occurred and by the Mar-a-Lago resort where Trump resides.
Routh has been charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, with more charges potentially forthcoming. A U.S. Secret Service agent noticed the weapon and fired in Routh's direction, prompting the suspect to flee. Routh was subsequently arrested along a Florida highway. U.S. officials stated that Routh did not discharge a shot during the encounter at the golf course and did not have a clear line of sight to Trump, who was several hundred yards away.
Authorities have yet to disclose a motive for the incident, which the FBI is investigating as an apparent attempted assassination of Trump ahead of the November 5 presidential election. This incident occurred approximately two months after another gunman injured Trump on the ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. That gunman was shot and killed by the Secret Service. These incidents highlight the agency's challenges amid rising political threats and violence in the United States.
Routh, a struggling roofing contractor who most recently resided in Hawaii, had a criminal history. He was a vocal supporter of Ukraine and was interviewed about his quixotic effort to recruit Afghans to fight against Russia's invasion. In a 2023 self-published book, Routh wrote that Iran was "free to assassinate Trump" for withdrawing the United States from an international nuclear deal with Tehran during his presidency. In December 2002, Routh was convicted in North Carolina of possessing a weapon of mass death and destruction. He was also convicted of possessing stolen goods in 2010, according to court records.
Cellphone data indicated that Routh may have been waiting in the area for nearly 12 hours—from around 2 a.m. until about 1:30 p.m.—when the gun was spotted, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators found a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope, a digital camera, and a plastic bag with food at the scene, as per the complaint.
