Attempted assassin of Trump to be formally charged for attack

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–Article last amended: Sep 25 at 17:27:23 UTC (history)

This article requires pre-publication review by an uninvolved reviewer (one not substantially involved in writing the article).

–Article last amended: Sep 25 at 17:27:23 UTC (history)

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Routh (middle) being detained by police officers (left and right)

Trump International Golf Club in April 2019. In this photo, Trump is with a radio commentator as the two pose for a photo while playing golf together.

The man who attempted to assassinate former U.S. president Donald Trump earlier this month has been charged Tuesday. The man, identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, carried out the attack on September 15 at Trump International Golf Club in West Beach, Florida, where Trump had been playing golf. Routh now faces two counts of criminal possession of a firearm and charges for attempting to assassinate a presidential candidate, possessing a firearm to carry out a violent crime, and assaulting a federal officer. If convicted, Routh potentially faces life in prison.

Investigations in the intervening days have shown that Routh had carried out this attack with the intent to do harm. On Monday, prosecutors have found chilling details that are, in their words, “probable cause to support additional charges.” Routh had previously been arrested and convicted in 2002 for possession of a machine gun, but there are no records of him being incarcerated back then. This week’s investigations have uncovered a note Routh had written about his plans to kill Trump. On the day of the attack, Routh arrived at the golf course at 1:59 a.m., then waited twelve hours for Trump to appear.

“Violence targeting public officials endangers everything our country stands for,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said today of the attack, “and the Department of Justice will use every available tool to hold Ryan Routh accountable.”