Authorities confirm a man identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, who is said to have spied on ex-presidential figure, Donald Trump at his Florida golf facility for a 12-hour duration, with written plans of murdering him, was officially charged on Tuesday for attempts to murder a key political candidate. Initially, Routh faced two government firearm-related charges.
This elevation in charges mirrors the US legal department’s appraisal that he meticulously planned to execute Trump, the contending party’s nominee, by aiming a gun from the greenery surrounding Trump’s West Palm Beach golf resort while the latter was present.
Routh, it is reported, left a note outlining his intent. The proceeding is now in the hands of US local judge Aileen Cannon, who in July overruled a different felonious case that indicted Trump for unlawfully amassing classified paperwork at his Florida domicile in Mar-a-Lago.
This indictment came after a court meeting on Monday where the prosecution effectively pushed for the continued detention of a 58-year-old Routh, positing him as a flight risk and hazardous to public security. They argued that he documented his plot to murder Trump in a manually written note several months ahead of his arrest on September 15th, in which he denoted his deeds as an unsuccessful “plot to murder Donald Trump,” offering roughly £113,000 (€134,000) to any person who could “complete the task.”
In addition, it was alleged that he carried a manual record of venues that were targets for Trump’s visit between August and October. The probable attack was prevented by Trump’s Secret Service detail when they noted a vaguely hidden man’s face and a gun barrel jutting from the golf course boundary, right ahead of Trump’s location.
The agent countered by firing at Routh, who promptly fled but was apprehended by adjacent county law reinforcement. Although Routh made no shots and did not have Trump in his view, per official reports, he left behind several items including a digital camera, a backpack, a fully-loaded SKS-style gun with an aiming device, and a bag of food.
This arrest took place after an episode where Trump was shot in the ear and suffered injury during a political rally in Pennsylvania two months earlier. Despite previous mishaps by the Secret Service, they assert that security measures were effective in preventing a possible Florida attack.
The initial indictment under the criminal law against Mr Routh accused him of unlawful possession of a firearm despite having numerous felony convictions, as well as having a weapon with a defaced serial number. Generally, prosecutors prefer laying the groundwork with basic and easily verifiable charges at the time of arrest, with more severe charges added as the investigation advances.
Initially, the FBI stated that they were treating the incident as a suspected attempt to assassinate, yet the delay in formally levelling such a charge allowed Republican Governor Ron DeSantis to initiate a parallel state-level investigation, which he suggested might yield more grave charges. Prior to the charges related to attempted conspiracy being imposed, Mr Trump had complained that the justice department was undermining and downplaying the case by bringing what he referred to as “lightweight” charges.
On Monday, the justice department announced that upon inspecting Mr Routh’s vehicle, they discovered multiple mobile phones, including one showing a Google search about a potential journey from Palm Beach County to Mexico. Inside the vehicle, a notebook loaded with criticisms of the Russian and Chinese governments and suggestions on joining Ukraine’s cause in the war was discovered.
Moreover, a book authored by Mr Routh last year, in which he severely criticises Mr Trump’s handling of foreign policy, particularly with reference to Ukraine, was brought up in the detention order. In his book, he suggests that Iran has the liberty to target Mr. Trump for withdrawing from the nuclear deal. – AP