Federal prosecutors announced on Monday that they intend to charge Ryan Routh, the man accused of hiding with a gun near former President Donald Trump’s Florida golf course, with attempting to assassinate a major political candidate. The 58-year-old suspect has been ordered to remain in jail without bond while awaiting trial on two gun-related charges.
Prosecutor Mark Dispoto revealed that the government plans to present more serious charges to a grand jury after detailing the evidence against Routh. This includes a letter Routh allegedly wrote months before the incident, referencing an “assassination attempt” on Trump, the Republican presidential candidate.
On September 15, Routh reportedly pointed a rifle through the tree line while Trump was playing golf at his West Palm Beach course, according to the criminal complaint. Routh has not yet entered a plea.
Prosecutors stated that Routh had dropped off a handwritten letter addressed to “the world” months earlier, offering a bounty on Trump. “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you,” Routh allegedly wrote, adding, “I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.” The letter was found in a box handed over by a civilian witness, which also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, and four phones.
When police arrested Routh, they found a handwritten list of dates in his car, detailing places where Trump had appeared or was expected to appear in August, September, and October. A search of his cellphone records showed his phone had pinged towers near both Trump’s golf course and 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. According to the complaint, a U.S. Secret Service agent spotted Routh’s weapon and fired in his direction, causing him to flee. Authorities arrested Routh along a Florida highway. Officials confirmed that Routh did not fire any shots during the encounter and did not have a clear line of sight to Trump, who was a few hundred yards away.
The FBI is investigating the incident as an apparent assassination attempt on Trump ahead of the November 5 presidential election. This incident follows another attack two months earlier, where a gunman wounded Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service shot and killed that assailant. These incidents have heightened concerns about the rising political violence and threats in the United States.
Routh, a struggling roofing contractor with a criminal history, had recently lived in Hawaii and was a vocal supporter of Ukraine. In a 2023 self-published book, he claimed that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump” in retaliation for the U.S. withdrawal from the international nuclear deal with Tehran during Trump’s presidency. Court records show that Routh was convicted in 2002 in North Carolina for possessing a weapon of mass destruction and in 2010 for possessing stolen goods.
Cellphone data suggests 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 Secret Service agent spotted his gun. Investigators recovered a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope, a digital camera, and a plastic bag with food at the scene.
