U.S.
Trump gunman said to have left note: ‘This was an assassination attempt’
By
The Washington Post September 23, 2024
Lori Rozsa, Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett
The Washington Post September 23, 2024
A page from a court filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida shows a photo of a note that Ryan Routh allegedly left with a friend, saying, “This was an assassination attempt.” (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The gunman arrested near where Donald Trump was playing golf this month left a note to a friend months ago saying, “This was an assassination attempt,” according to a court filing Monday.
Ryan Routh is being held on gun charges after the Sept. 15 incident, which authorities have called an apparent attempt to assassinate Trump.
Authorities say that Routh did not fire any shots at the golf course, which makes it tricky for them to charge him with more serious crimes related to an assassination attempt. He was charged with two federal gun-related crimes, and the new evidence makes a much stronger argument that Routh’s intention was to kill the former president — and could enable federal prosecutors to charge him with more crimes.
Authorities say Trump was golfing on Sept. 15 when a Secret Service agent guarding the course spotted a rifle pointing out from behind some bushes and fired at it, causing Routh to flee. It was the second time in about as many months that someone apparently tried to kill Trump, the former president and 2024 Republican nominee.
After the incident, a civilian contacted law enforcement to tell them that Routh had given the civilian a box several months earlier. The civilian, who was not identified in the court filing, opened the box after learning of Routh’s arrest, the filing said. Inside, the person found multiple letters.
“Dear World,” one of the handwritten letters said, according to the filing: “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.” Routh, who investigators say has little money, went on to offer a six-figure reward for someone to “finish the job.”
The court filing comes ahead of a hearing Monday to determine whether Routh should remain behind bars.
At an initial court hearing following Routh’s arrest, Magistrate Judge Ryon M. McCabe ordered him to remain in custody. Prosecutors argued that the 58-year-old posed a flight risk and was a danger to the community.
Questions remain about Routh, who is from North Carolina but was most recently living in Hawaii. He spent recent years trying to join the war in Ukraine. Routh has a lengthy criminal history that includes a 2002 incident in which he barricaded himself inside a building with a machine gun, according to public records and news reports.
Witnesses told police they saw Routh run away from Trump’s golf course and flee in a Nissan SUV. One witness took a photo of the vehicle’s license plate. Routh was pulled over 45 minutes later on Interstate 95 in Martin County, about 40 miles north.
The latest court filing says that police took six phones from Routh when they pulled him over. Through the data from two of the phones, authorities discovered that Routh had been near the golf course and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property multiple times between Aug. 18 and Sept. 15, suggesting that he may have been scoping out Trump’s whereabouts and the landscape for up to a month before the alleged attempt on his life.
The cellphone data determined that Routh traveled from North Carolina to West Palm Beach on Aug. 14, according to the court filing. Authorities also said the cell data shows that the suspect Googled on one of the phones how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.
The search of the Nissan also yielded a handwritten list of dates in August, September and October of events where Trump had appeared or was expected to appear.
Investigators found items in the bushes they said Routh left behind, including a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope, as well as food and two bags, one of which contained ceramic plates, which are often used as body armor, according to the complaint filed against him.
The incident has raised concerns about how well Trump is being protected as he goes about his day and campaigns for president. The former president’s security was bolstered following an assassination attempt in July at a rally in Pennsylvania, but authorities have long worried about his vulnerability on golf courses, especially those near public roads. The federal complaint against Routh alleges he spent nearly 12 hours in the bushes around Trump International Golf Club before a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle.
Acting Secret Service director Ronald L. Rowe Jr. is urging Congress to heavily invest in the protective agency in the aftermath of the two potential attempts on Trump’s life.
The Secret Service released a report Friday on the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump in Pennsylvania that found the agency responsible for multiple security failures that led to the attack at a campaign rally.
The internal review found agents failed to use technology that might have detected the attacker as he flew a drone over the rally venue hours earlier. And the Secret Service, which is the lead agency in charge of security for presidents, former leaders and other top U.S. officials, never directed local police snipers to cover a nearby rooftop, even though the snipers were willing to do it.
Rowe has praised the agents for their planning and security in the West Palm Beach incident. A Secret Service agent moving ahead of Trump on the golf course saw an armed man on the perimeter of the club and fired shots.
The gun crimes Routh is currently facing include possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
The obliterated serial number makes it harder for authorities to track the weapon and determine how it was obtained. The FBI agent who wrote the federal complaint said the type of weapon Routh had is not manufactured in Florida and that the agent suspects it was obtained from another state or abroad.
McCabe is expected to review whether Routh should remain in custody at Monday’s hearing. The suspect is then expected to enter his plea of guilty or not guilty at his arraignment Sept. 30.
Stein and Barrett reported from Washington.