Ryan Routh said Donald Trump stakeout was an 'assassination attempt,' prosecutors say

Ryan Routh said Donald Trump stakeout was an ‘assassination attempt,’ prosecutors say

Posted by Admin September 23, 2024 Golf

Prosecutors described evidence in the investigation including a fingerprint on the rifle preliminarily matched to Routh and his phone tracked near the golf course and Mar-a-Lago for nearly a month.

Ryan Routh allegedly wrote a letter months before he was arrested near Donald Trump’s golf course saying he was pursuing an ‘assassination attempt,’ according to prosecutors.
A fingerprint on the SKS rifle found at the golf club was preliminarily matched to Routh, prosecutors said.
FBI agents found six cellphones, including one with a search for how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico in the vehicle Routh was driving.

WASHINGTON – Ryan Routh left a handwritten note calling his visit to the Trump International Golf Club this month “an assassination attempt” on former President Donald Trump and offered a $150,000 reward for anyone who could complete the job if it failed, prosecutors said in a court filing Monday.

Routh was arrested Sept. 15 fleeing the Florida golf course where Trump was playing after the Secret Service opened fire on a suspect leveling a rifle through the fenceline. FBI agents found an SKS semiautomatic rifle with a scope loaded with 12 rounds of ammunition in the improvised sniper’s nest.

Routh allegedly left the note in a metal box with someone, who wasn’t named in the court filing, months before the incident at the golf course. The witness opened the box after hearing about Routh’s arrest, and law enforcement visited the person Sept. 18. The box also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, building materials, four phones and several letters, prosecutors said.

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“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you,” said the letter, a picture of which appears in the court filing. “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”

Routh, 58, has been charged with possession of a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number. The revelations about handwritten note come as prosecutors could enhance the charges against Routh to include attempted assassination.

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Routh had a detention hearing scheduled at 11 a.m. Monday, where prosecutors seek to keep him locked up until trial. He has not yet entered a formal plea, which is scheduled Sept. 30.

The court filing contained other allegations intended to link Routh to the gun and to stalking Trump.

The FBI found a fingerprint on tape attached to the SKS rifle that preliminarily matched Routh.

The FBI’s analysis of Routh’s phone showed that he traveled from the area around Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug.14. On multiple days and times from Aug. 18 to Sept. 15, Routh’s phone accessed cell towers near Trump International Golf Club and the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.

After local authorities pulled Routh over in a black Nissan Xterra seen leaving the golf course, officers discovered license plates didn’t belong to the vehicle. FBI agents found two additional license plates inside, along with six cellphones, 12 pairs of gloves, a Hawaii driver’s license, a passport and a handwritten list of dates in August, September and October where the former president had been or was expected.

One of the cellphones contained a search query asking how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.