WASHINGTON – Ryan Wesley Routh appeared in federal court Monday on two counts of firearms-related offenses after being arrested by local police on Sunday in connection with a possible assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that is being investigated by the FBI.
Authorities found a rifle in an area from which Routh was seen fleeing on Sunday, but acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe said Monday that Routh did not fire his weapon. Trump was unharmed, his campaign team confirmed shortly afterwards. after Sunday’s incident.
The Secret Service agent who spotted someone with a rifle near the tree line at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, shot the suspect. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, was playing golf at the time.
The incident is being investigated as the second assassination attempt against Trump in two months. He sustained an ear injury in a July shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Trump campaign on Monday blamed Democrats and the media for the shooting.
“Democrats and fake news must immediately stop their inflammatory, violent rhetoric against President Trump – which yesterday’s would-be assassin imitated,” the campaign said in a statement.
Routh, 58, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe in federal court in West Palm Beach and was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and defacing the serial number of a firearm, court records show. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Routh is in custody. after a criminal complaint submitted by FBI Special Agent Mark Thomas.
The FBI is leading the investigation.
Separately, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said The state will conduct its own investigations into the possible murder attempt to determine whether Routh violated state law.
A detention hearing on the federal charges is scheduled for September 23, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
First investigation
According to an affidavit attached to the criminal complaint, a Secret Service agent walking the golf course at 1:31 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday spotted a rifle sticking out of the tree line. The agent fired at the rifle.
Rowe said at a press conference on Monday that Routh did not have the former president in his sights and did not fire his weapon.
“The agent who was searching the area … saw the suspect armed with what he believed to be a rifle and immediately fired his weapon,” Rowe said. “The suspect, who did not have the former president in sight, fled the scene. He did not shoot at our agents or fire any shots.”
According to charging documents, Routh fled in a Nissan SUV. A witness took photos of the license plate and local police officers stopped the vehicle in Martin County, which borders Palm Beach County.
West Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the witness was able to identify the driver as “the person he saw running out of the bushes and jumping into the car.”
According to the complaint, Routh was the only person in the vehicle.
According to the charging documents, officers found a digital camera, two bags, a 7.62 x 39 SKS rifle – the predecessor of the AK-47 assault rifle that police initially claimed to have found on Sunday – and a telescopic sight at the crime scene.
They also found a bag of groceries and noticed that the rifle’s serial number was “not visible to the naked eye,” the records show.
The weapon must also have crossed national borders, Thomas noted.
“SKS rifles in 7.62×39 caliber are not manufactured in the state of Florida,” Thomas wrote. “Therefore, I believe there is reasonable cause to believe that the SKS rifle seized from the tree line at Trump International Airport was being transported in interstate or foreign commerce.”
Officers who stopped Routh on Interstate 95 noticed that the Nissan’s license plate belonged to a white 2012 Ford truck that had been reported stolen, the complaint states.
According to the complaint, law enforcement found a July 10 Facebook post in which Routh instructed his followers to contact him via WhatsApp and provided a contact number.
Phone records associated with that number showed the phone was “located near the described area along the tree line from 1:59 a.m. Eastern time to 1:31 p.m. Sunday,” the complaint states.
Secret service response
The incident followed July 13 Assassination by Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the Secret Service was heavily criticized for its response.
The then director Kimberly Cheatle resigned and Congress a bipartisan task force was set up to investigate the July shooting.
The leaders of this task force, Republican U.S. Representative Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania and Democratic U.S. Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, have asked the Secret Service for a briefing on security measures following the shooting in West Palm Beach.
Members of Congress were rather positive about the Secret Service’s response to the Florida incident.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana praised the agency’s response in an interview with “Fox and Friends” on Monday.
“From what I understand, it happened: The agents who were with him yesterday saw the muzzle of the gun in the bushes on a golf course. I mean, you know, it’s hard to see something like that. Thankfully, they did,” Johnson said. “But unlike in Butler, they didn’t hesitate. They immediately drew their weapons and fired. I think that’s why this guy, the suspect, the shooter, threw the gun in the bushes and ran.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said on the Senate floor on Monday that senators are prepared to provide the Secret Service with more funding through a bill this month to keep the government running beyond September 30.
“If the Secret Service needs more resources, we are prepared to provide them,” he said. “Possibly as part of the upcoming funding agreement.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, said Sunday they had been briefed on the matter and condemned the political violence.
Previous arrests, activism in Ukraine
In 2002, Routh was convicted in Greensboro, North Carolina, of possession of a weapon of mass destruction, a felony in that state. He was arrested after fleeing from law enforcement and barricading himself in a store for three hours. according to the Greensboro News & Record.
He was also arrested in North Carolina in 2010 for possession of stolen goods.
Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami field office, said during a press conference Monday that the FBI is currently interviewing family and friends in Honolulu and Charlotte, North Carolina.
He added that the FBI received a tip in 2019 that Routh owned a firearm, which is illegal due to his criminal record. When FBI agents followed up, “the informant did not verify the original information,” Veltri said.
The agency has referred the case to Honolulu police, he said.
Routh was interviewed by the New York Times last year about his efforts to recruit Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine’s war against Russia.
Routh, who has spent time in Ukraine and has no experience in the U.S. military, said he planned to illegally obtain documents to bring these Afghan fighters from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine.
“We can probably buy some passports through Pakistan since it is such a corrupt country,” Routh told the Times in the interview.
He wrote an e-book, published on Amazon Kindle, about his time in Ukraine, where he became disillusioned about the country’s ability to win its war against Russia.
Kathleen Shaffer, who said Routh was her fiancé, set up a GoFundMe campaign in 2022 to support Routh travel to Ukraine for 90 days to fight in the war.
The fundraiser has been deleted, but can Access via Internet archives.
“All funds will be used to purchase additional flags, tactical equipment, any needed supplies for incoming volunteers, and hostel accommodations,” said the fundraiser, which raised $1,865 of the $2,500 goal.
States Newsroom called a number associated with Shaffer but was unable to reach her.
Public records show that Routh currently lives in Kaaawa on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
In 2018, Hawaii News Now interviewed Routh about torrential rains in Kaaawa. Routh spoke in the interview about a recent home project he completed after purchasing his house a year earlier.
