US Prosecutors: Ryan Routh Detailed "Assassination Attempt" on Trump in Letter

(Patria) - A man accused of hiding with a gun near Donald Trump's Florida golf course, in an apparent attempt to kill the former president, wrote a letter months earlier detailing an "assassination attempt" and offering a bounty for Trump's life, US prosecutors said yesterday.

Ryan Routh, 58, is charged with two gun crimes after allegedly aiming a rifle through a tree line on September 15 as the Republican presidential candidate golfed at his West Palm Beach course, according to a criminal complaint. He has not yet pleaded guilty.

US prosecutors may reveal new details about the investigation as they argue Routh poses a danger to public safety and must remain in custody until trial, reports VOA.

In a court filing released ahead of a hearing, prosecutors said that months before the incident, Routh left a handwritten letter addressed to "the world" offering a bounty for Trump.

"This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you. I will offer $150,000 to whoever can finish the job," the suspect wrote, according to the filing.

The letter was found in a box handed over by an unidentified civilian witness, which also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, and four phones, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also stated that when Routh was arrested this month, his car contained a handwritten list of dates and locations where Trump would appear or was expected to appear in August, September, and October.

Routh is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and more charges could follow.

A US Secret Service agent spotted the weapon and fired in Routh's direction, causing the suspect to flee, according to the indictment. Routh was later arrested on a Florida highway.

US officials said Routh did not fire a shot during the encounter at the golf course and did not have Trump in his sights, who was several hundred yards away.

Authorities have not yet revealed the motive for the incident, which the FBI said is being investigated as an apparent attempt to assassinate Trump ahead of the November 5 presidential election.

This occurred approximately two months after another armed assailant shot Trump in the ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The Secret Service shot and killed that gunman. The pair of incidents highlighted the agency's tension amid rising political threats and violence in the US.

Routh, a roofing contractor who recently lived in Hawaii, had a criminal history. He was a vocal supporter of Ukraine and was interviewed about his quixotic efforts to recruit Afghans to fight the Russian invasion.

In a self-published book in 2023, Routh wrote that Iran was "free to kill Trump" due to the US withdrawal from the international nuclear deal with Tehran during his term.

In December 2002, Routh was convicted in North Carolina for possessing a weapon of mass death and destruction. He was also convicted of possessing stolen property in 2010, according to court records.

Data recorded on a cell phone showed that Routh may have been waiting in the area for nearly 12 hours – from about 2 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m. – when the rifle was spotted, according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators found a loaded rifle with an optical sight, a digital camera, and a plastic bag of food at the scene, the complaint stated.