Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Suspect in Trump Assassination Attempt Outlined Plans in Note
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 1 month ago on
September 23, 2024

Police outside the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., after an apparent attempted assasination of former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. Ryan Routh, the man accused of trying to assassinate Trump, staked out the grounds of the golf course for a month before the attempt, according to a federal court filing on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

WASHINGTON — A 58-year-old man accused of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump acknowledged in a prewritten note that he had planned the attack — and even predicted his failure, according to a federal court filing Monday.

The man, Ryan W. Routh, staked out the grounds of Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, for a month before the episode, the filing said. He positioned himself outside the fence at the sixth hole of the course on Sept. 15, before a Secret Service agent scouting one hole ahead of the former president’s group spotted him and the barrel of his gun.

At the time he was seen, Routh had aligned himself directly to the sixth hole, with the intention of shooting Trump from a relatively short distance with a semiautomatic rifle, prosecutors said. The rifle, equipped with a scope and left at the scene, had a bullet in the chamber and a total of 11 rounds. Investigators also found Routh’s fingerprint on the weapon.

“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,” Routh wrote in a note placed inside a box, left at a friend’s house, found by investigators after he was arrested. “It is up to you to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”

Note Said Trump Was Unfit to Be President

In the note, Routh also wrote that Trump was unfit to be president. Routh had left the note at the house several months before the shooting, an indication that he had been planning the assassination for a long time.

Routh was scheduled to appear before a federal judge in West Palm Beach on Monday morning for a detention hearing. Last week, he was charged with possessing a firearm as a felon, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Prosecutors disclosed the new information in a memo written to convince a federal judge to detain Routh indefinitely while he awaits trial. The filing paints the clearest picture to date of an itinerant and impoverished contractor who repeatedly professed his willingness to die to defend Ukraine.

Law enforcement officials, searching Routh’s Nissan SUV, found “a handwritten list of dates in August, September and October 2024 and venues where the former president had appeared or was expected to be present,” according to the memo.

Agents also found six cellphones — including one that contained a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico — 12 pairs of gloves, a Hawaii driver’s license in Routh’s name and a passport.

In their memo, prosecutors also noted Routh’s extensive criminal history, saying he was convicted of multiple counts of possessing stolen goods.

In 2002, he was charged in North Carolina with possessing a weapon of mass death and destruction, a felony. Court documents describe the weapon as a “binary explosive with a 10-inch detonation and a blasting cap.” He was convicted and placed on supervised probation for 60 months.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Glenn Thrush and Adam Goldman/Saul Martinez
c. 2024 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Israel Says It Carried out Ground Raid Into Syria, Seizing a Syrian Citizen

DON'T MISS

At 91, Willie Nelson Has a New Album Out and a Cannabis Cookbook Coming

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Bulldogs Stumble in Fourth Quarter, Suffer Narrow Loss to Hawai’i

DON'T MISS

From Blue Cheese to Bacon: Peanut Butter Pairings That Will Shock You

DON'T MISS

Challengers Seek Seats on Tulare County Irrigation District Boards

DON'T MISS

Shy Pup Finds Hope with Foster Family, Evasion from Euthanasia

DON'T MISS

Does Dill Have Magical Powers? What People Once Believed Food Could Do

DON'T MISS

Let’s Keep Innovative Partnerships Crucial to Combating Climate Change: Fresno Dairy Manager

DON'T MISS

Immediate Threat: Mussel Invades California’s Delta, First Time in North America

DON'T MISS

Two-Time Cy Young Winner Blake Snell Opts Out of Contract with Giants

UP NEXT

At 91, Willie Nelson Has a New Album Out and a Cannabis Cookbook Coming

UP NEXT

Fresno State Bulldogs Stumble in Fourth Quarter, Suffer Narrow Loss to Hawai’i

UP NEXT

From Blue Cheese to Bacon: Peanut Butter Pairings That Will Shock You

UP NEXT

Challengers Seek Seats on Tulare County Irrigation District Boards

UP NEXT

Shy Pup Finds Hope with Foster Family, Evasion from Euthanasia

UP NEXT

Does Dill Have Magical Powers? What People Once Believed Food Could Do

UP NEXT

Let’s Keep Innovative Partnerships Crucial to Combating Climate Change: Fresno Dairy Manager

UP NEXT

Immediate Threat: Mussel Invades California’s Delta, First Time in North America

UP NEXT

Two-Time Cy Young Winner Blake Snell Opts Out of Contract with Giants

UP NEXT

No Matter the Outcome, We Are the True Losers of This Election

From Blue Cheese to Bacon: Peanut Butter Pairings That Will Shock You

2 days ago

Challengers Seek Seats on Tulare County Irrigation District Boards

2 days ago

Shy Pup Finds Hope with Foster Family, Evasion from Euthanasia

2 days ago

Does Dill Have Magical Powers? What People Once Believed Food Could Do

2 days ago

Let’s Keep Innovative Partnerships Crucial to Combating Climate Change: Fresno Dairy Manager

2 days ago

Immediate Threat: Mussel Invades California’s Delta, First Time in North America

2 days ago

Two-Time Cy Young Winner Blake Snell Opts Out of Contract with Giants

2 days ago

No Matter the Outcome, We Are the True Losers of This Election

2 days ago

Russia’s Swift March Forward in Ukraine’s East

2 days ago

Rapper Young Thug Is a Free Man. Here Are Things to Know About His Plea.

2 days ago

Israel Says It Carried out Ground Raid Into Syria, Seizing a Syrian Citizen

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Sunday it carried out a ground raid into Syria, seizing a Syrian citizen involved in Iranian networks....

9 hours ago

9 hours ago

Israel Says It Carried out Ground Raid Into Syria, Seizing a Syrian Citizen

15 hours ago

At 91, Willie Nelson Has a New Album Out and a Cannabis Cookbook Coming

23 hours ago

Fresno State Bulldogs Stumble in Fourth Quarter, Suffer Narrow Loss to Hawai’i

2 days ago

From Blue Cheese to Bacon: Peanut Butter Pairings That Will Shock You

2 days ago

Challengers Seek Seats on Tulare County Irrigation District Boards

2 days ago

Shy Pup Finds Hope with Foster Family, Evasion from Euthanasia

2 days ago

Does Dill Have Magical Powers? What People Once Believed Food Could Do

2 days ago

Let’s Keep Innovative Partnerships Crucial to Combating Climate Change: Fresno Dairy Manager

Search

Send this to a friend