Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday that the man who is suspected of using a rifle to scout out Donald Trump’s Florida golf course was indicted on a charge of attempting to kill a political candidate.
After officials said that Ryan Routh, 58, had pointed a rifle through a fence at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida,, on September 15, while the Republican presidential candidate was playing there, Routh was already charged with two gun-related offenses. It has been mandated that he stay in jail while awaiting trial.
The Justice Department will not put up with acts of violence that undermine our democracy, and we will track down and prosecute anyone responsible. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement saying, “This has to end.
According to the Department of Justice, a federal grand jury in Miami returned the indictment late Tuesday afternoon. The attempted assassination charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed a criminal prosecution in July alleging that Trump had improperly kept sensitive information after leaving office, has been assigned the case.
As of yet, Routh has not entered a plea. His attorneys attempted in vain to get him released on bond.
In recent days, prosecutors have made material public that they claim indicates there was a plot to assassinate Trump. They said that months prior to the incident, Routh sent a letter mentioning “an assassination attempt on Donald Trump” to an anonymous recipient.
They said that Routh lived in South Florida for a month, and that Routh’s cellphone data placed him close to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as well as the golf course. A handwritten list of the dates and locations where Trump talked or was expected to appear, according to court filings.
A U.S. Secret Service agent searching the golf course ahead of Trump opened fire after discovering the gun poking through the fence, causing Routh to flee, prosecutors said. He was arrested within an hour along a Florida highway.
Routh was initially charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
(Reuters)
