Trump assassination attempt suspect detailed plans in handwritten note, authorities say

(CN) — The man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course wrote a letter offering reward money for someone to “finish the job” and tracked Trump’s appearances for months, officials said in a court filing Monday ahead of the suspect’s detention hearing in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Authorities say Ryan Routh did not fire any shots at the golf course, making it difficult for them to bring charges against him related to an assassination attempt. The 58-year-old so far faces charges of possessing a firearm despite a prior felony conviction and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

However, evidence filed Monday makes a much stronger argument that he intended to kill the former president and could enable prosecutors to bring additional charges.

The handwritten letter was addressed to “The World,” according to the factual proffer. “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’s quoted as saying.

Routh, who investigators say has little money, went on to offer a $150,000 reward for someone to “finish the job.”

According to the court filing, after Routh’s arrest on Sept. 15 a civilian contacted law enforcement and said Routh had dropped off a box at his residence several months earlier. The civilian, who was not identified in the filing, opened the box after learning of Routh’s arrest and found ammunition; a metal pipe; miscellaneous building materials and tools; four phones; and multiple letters.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryon M. McCabe said during the hearing Monday the weight of the evidence against Routh was strong and ordered that he remain detained.

Mark D. Dispoto, an assistant U.S. attorney, argued Routh was a danger to the community and should be kept in custody, pointing to his lack of ties to Florida, extended criminal history and “some mental health issues.”

Routh was convicted in Greensboro, North Carolina, for possession of a weapon of mass destruction in December 2002, and then again in March 2010 on multiple counts of possession of stolen goods.

Kristy Militello, an assistant federal public defender representing Routh, who attended the hearing, asked the judge to permit Routh to live with his sister in Greensboro, North Carolina, as the case proceeds. She argued that prosecutors had failed to show how he posed a threat to the community and highlighted Routh’s track record of showing up for court appearances throughout decades of legal troubles.

Prosecutors said during Monday’s hearing that Routh had been in Florida for at least 30 days before a Secret Service agent spotted him at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach.

Authorities say Trump was golfing on Sept. 15 when a Secret Service agent guarding the course spotted the barrel of a rifle pointing out from behind the brush along the fence line around the sixth hole. The agent reportedly fired at it, causing Routh to flee.

According to the FBI, agents found a loaded semiautomatic rifle with a scope attached and an extended magazine in the area where Routh had been hiding. . They said the serial number was “obliterated and unreadable,” making it more difficult for investigators to track the weapon and determine how it was obtained.

Law enforcement also found a backpack containing plates capable of stopping small arms fire during ballistics testing.

A civilian who saw Routh running away from Trump’s golf course and into a Nissan SUV took photos of his license plate number, according to authorities. Routh was detained about 45 minutes later after his vehicle was spotted traveling on the interstate.

While searching his vehicle, FBI agents said they found two additional license plates, a passport in Routh’s name and six cell phones — one containing a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.

They also found a handwritten list of dates in August, September and October of events where Trump had appeared or was expected to appear.

Officials say that while searching the seized phones, they learned Routh had been near the golf course and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property multiple times between Aug. 18 and Sept. 15., suggesting he may have been scoping out the landscape and the former president’s whereabouts for up to a month before his arrest.

As part of their investigation, the FBI reportedly reviewed a book apparently written by Routh in February 2023 titled, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea, WWIII and the End of Humanity.”

Routh wrote in the book that he “must take part of the blame for the [person] that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless, but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize."

“You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal. No one here in the U.S. seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection,” Routh reportedly wrote.

A notebook with dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine, and notes criticizing the China’s and Russia’s governments, were also discovered among his belongings, according to Monday’s filing.

In a statement released by his campaign, Trump accused the Justice Department of “mishandling and downplaying” the apparent assassination attempt by bringing charges that were a “slap on the wrist.”

Trump also claimed the Justice Department has a conflict of interest in prosecuting this case, since it is simultaneously charging him with attempting to overturn the 2020 election and with mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, under the supervision of special counsel.

He signaled support for a separate state-level criminal investigation announced last week by Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

The government’s charges against Routh come amid heightened concerns about the Secret Service’s ability to protect Trump after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on the former president at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Acting Secret Service director Ronald L. Rowe Jr. is urging Congress to heavily invest in the protective agency in the aftermath of the two potential attempts on Trump’s life.

The Secret Service released a report Friday deeming the agency responsible for multiple security failures that led to the July assassination attempt, in which a bullet grazed Trump’s ear at the rally.

Agents failed to use a device that might have detected the attacker, Thomas Matthew Crooks, as he flew a drone over the rally venue before the shooting, according to a summary of the report. The agency also also said the Secret Service never told local police snipers to monitor the nearby rooftop where Crooks opened fire.

Eight shots rained down on the rally before snipers spotted Crooks and killed him. A 50-year-old rallygoer was killed by gunfire and two others were injured.

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