The man who appeared to have attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump faces two federal gun charges in Florida, according to documents released Monday.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has been charged with possessing a firearm as a felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
The suspect was arrested on Sunday after a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of a fence at Trump International Golf Club in South Florida and “engaged” with him.
Routh was about 300 to 500 yards (274.3-457.2 meters) from Trump, who was moving between holes five and six at his golf course with a donor when gunshots went off. Trump was unharmed.
At a news conference on Monday, Ronald Rowe, the acting Secret Service director, told reporters that the man “did not have Trump in his sight line,” and did not fire or get off any shots at the agents.
Court records reveal that the cellphone of the suspect was located near the golf course where the incident occurred for nearly 12 hours.
The suspect was listed as the author of a self-published 2023 book — “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War” — in which he referred to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot as a “catastrophe” perpetrated by Trump and his undemocratic posse, according to a report by NPR. He also told readers that they were “free to assassinate Trump.”
His motive is still unclear as the Federal Bureau of Investigation continues to conduct a thorough investigation into his background.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, on Monday claimed that the inflammatory rhetoric from Democrats had provoked what was considered the second assassination attempt against him in two months, and attacked his opponents in inflammatory language.
“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,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, has accused Trump of attempting to divide the American people, warning that Trump will usher in a period of “chaos, fear and hate.”
President Joe Biden spoke with Trump on Monday afternoon, and the two had a “cordial conversation,” White House spokesperson Emilie Simons said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Earlier in the day, Biden told reporters that the Secret Service needs more help. “I think the Congress should respond to their needs, if they, in fact, need more Service people,” said the president.
Former presidents, major-party candidates, and visiting dignitaries typically receive fewer resources from the Secret Service, as the sitting president and vice president are given the highest level of protection.
When Trump left office in 2021, he redefined the standard for protective details. In 2022, then-Secret Service Director James Murray told Congress that the frequency and scale of Trump’s events surpassed the expectations of those responsible for his protection.
The first assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania in July prompted former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign amid widespread outrage over the agency’s failure to prevent the incident, in which Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet. After that, the Secret Service allocated additional resources not typically provided to someone in Trump’s position.
