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Trump assassination attempt suspect in court
Josh Schirard with Byrna Law Enforcement joins LiveNOW's Andrew Craft to discuss the latest in the investigation into the most recent apparent assassination attempt on former President Trump.
null - Ryan Wesley Routh, the man accused in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a golf course in Florida, allegedly left behind a note saying that he intended to kill the former president, according to documents released by the Justice Department on Monday.
The Justice Department also said it plans to seek an attempted assassination charge, according to a detention memo obtained by the Associated Press.
Routh, 58, is also accused of maintaining in his car a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump was to appear, prosecutors said.
Trump complained that the current holding charges against the man were too light, but prosecutors indicated much more serious attempted assassination charges were coming.
It is common for prosecutors to file more easily provable charges as an immediate placeholder before adding more significant allegations as the case proceeds, the Associated Press reported.
The former president also claimed that the Justice Department has a conflict of interest in prosecuting this case since, under the supervision of a special counsel, it is simultaneously pursuing cases charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 election and with hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. He signaled support for a separate state-level criminal investigation announced last week by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The new allegations about the note were included in a detention memo filed ahead of a hearing Monday at which federal prosecutors argued that Routh should remain locked up as a flight risk and a threat to public safety.
According to the Associated Press, U.S. Magistrate Ryon McCabe agreed with prosecutors, saying the "weight of the evidence against the defendant is strong" and ordered him to stay behind bars.
Kristy Militello, an assistant federal public defender representing Routh, asked during Monday's hearing for Routh to be permitted to live with his sister in Greensboro, N.C., as the case moves forward.
The AP noted that Militello argued that prosecutors failed to show that Routh was a threat to the community and noted his track record of routinely showing up for court appearances throughout decades of legal troubles.
The latest details were meant to boost the Justice Department's argument that Routh engaged in a premeditated plan to kill Trump, a plot officials tell the AP was stopped by a Secret Service agent who saw a rifle poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing and then opened fire in Routh's direction.
Routh was arrested in a neighboring county within minutes of authorities putting out a "very urgent" alert detailing his vehicle, license plate number and description of him. Routh appeared briefly in a courtroom in West Palm Beach the next day and was charged with federal gun crimes.
The Secret Service told the Associated Press that Routh did not fire any shots and never had Trump in his line of sight.
Routh is charged with illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina, and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. More serious charges are possible in the weeks ahead.
Here’s what to know:
Trump assassination attempt suspect: ‘I failed you’
A letter Ryan Wesley Routh wrote regarding an assassination attempt against Trump. (DOJ photo)
The note was addressed as, "Dear World," according to DOJ documents.
It was placed in a box that was dropped at the home of an unidentified person who contacted law enforcement officials after Routh’s arrest. It appears to have been based on the premise that the assassination attempt would be ultimately unsuccessful.
The box, which also contained ammunition, a metal pipe and other items, was not opened by the person until after Routh was taken into custody, prosecutors said.
The person who received the box and contacted law enforcement was not identified in the Justice Department's detention memo.
"This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. 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," the note said, according to prosecutors.
"Everyone across the globe from the youngest to the oldest know that Trump is unfit to be anything, much less a U.S. president," the letter continues. "U.S. presidents must at bare minimum embody the moral fabric that is America, and be kind, caring and selfless and always stand for humanity. Trump fails to understand any of [that]."
An attorney for Routh didn’t immediately respond to an email from the Associated Press seeking comment Monday morning.
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The detention memo also cites a book authored by Routh last year in which he lambasted Trump's approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran was "free to assassinate Trump" for having left the nuclear deal.
Authorities who searched his car found six cell phones, including one that showed a Google search for how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico, according to court documents.
They also found a list with dates in August, September and October and venues where Trump had appeared or was scheduled to, according to prosecutors. A notebook found in his car was filled with criticism of the Russian and Chinese governments and notes about how to join the war on behalf of Ukraine.
The apparent assassination attempt happened at Trump International Golf Club, located about 4.5 miles inland from Trump’s famed Mar-a-Lago club.
Cell phone records indicate that Routh traveled to West Palm Beach from Greensboro in mid-August, and that he was near Trump’s golf club and the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence "on multiple days and times" between August 18 and the day of the apparent attempted assassination.