Key Points
- Suspect in Trump’s assassination attempt has been charged with gun crimes as investigations continue.
- Trump blamed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ “rhetoric” for the attack, and claimed he’s being targeted by their “inflammatory language.”
- Suspect waited near Trump’s golf course for 12 hours and was arrested after fleeing in stolen vehicle.
A man suspected of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump was charged with two gun-related crimes in federal court, a day at the former US president’s golf course in Florida.
More charges appear likely, but the initial counts — possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number — will allow authorities to keep him in custody as the investigation continues.
The Republican presidential candidate in the 5 November election was unharmed. But the incident raised fresh questions about how an armed suspect was able to get so close to him, just two months after , grazing his ear with a bullet.
Phone records suggest the suspect may have been lying in wait for nearly 12 hours on Sunday (local time), according to a criminal complaint.
The US Secret Service opened fire after an agent saw a rifle barrel poking out of the bushes at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, a few hundred yards away from where the former president was playing.
The gunman fled in a sports utility vehicle, according to the complaint. Officers found a loaded assault-style rifle with a scope, a digital camera and a plastic bag of food left behind.
A suspect, identified on Monday as Ryan Routh, 58, was arrested about 40 minutes later driving north on Interstate 95. When asked if he knew why he had been stopped, Routh “responded in the affirmative,” according to the complaint. The license plate on his vehicle had been reported stolen from another car.
Records show a phone associated with Routh was located at the golf course starting at 1:59am local time on Sunday morning.
Who is Ryan Routh, the alleged Trump would-be assassin?
Routh has two prior convictions, both in North Carolina, according to the criminal complaint: a 2002 conviction for possession of a weapon of mass death and destruction and a 2010 conviction for possession of stolen goods. Further details about those cases were not immediately available.
Routh was a staunch supporter of Ukraine and had traveled there after Russia’s 2022 invasion, seeking to recruit foreign fighters.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested after US Secret Service agents “opened fire on a gunman” carrying an AK-47 style rifle near the boundary of Donald Trump’s Florida golf course. Source: Getty / AFPTV
Profiles on X, Facebook and LinkedIn with Routh’s name contained messages of support for Ukraine as well as statements describing Trump as a threat to US democracy.
“@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA …make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose,” read a post on X, tagging Biden.
Public access to the Facebook and X profiles was removed hours after Sunday’s incident.
Trump blames Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ ‘rhetoric’ for assassination attempt
Trump blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris for the assassination attempt. He cited their “rhetoric” and claimed the suspected gunman was acting on Democrats’ “highly inflammatory language,” though authorities have not yet offered evidence of any motive.
“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country – both from the inside and out,” he said, according to Fox.
The Secret Service, which protects US presidents, presidential candidates and other high-level dignitaries, has been under intense scrutiny since the earlier attempt on Trump’s life.
The agency “needs more help,” including possibly more personnel, Biden told reporters on Monday, adding: “Thank God the president’s OK.”
Harris said on X: “Violence has no place in America.”
