Suspect in second Trump assassination attempt charged with gun crimes

A man suspected of plotting to assassinate former US president Donald Trump has been charged with federal gun crimes.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged on Monday with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number at his initial court appearance.

Routh, who was arrested on Sunday after an alleged abortive bid to shoot the Republican presidential candidate at his West Palm Beach golf course, is expected to face further charges at a later date.

In addition, Routh allegedly camped outside a golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours before a Secret Service agent confronted him and opened fire, according to court documents filed Monday.

Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, where he answered perfunctory questions about his work status and income.

Shackled and wearing a blue jumpsuit, he smiled as he spoke with a public defender and reviewed documents ahead of the initial appearance.

The lawyer declined to comment after the hearing ended.

FBI Investigation

Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after authorities spotted a firearm poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing.

Prosecutors asked that he remain locked up as a flight risk. A federal magistrate set additional hearings for later this month.

An FBI affidavit accompanying a criminal complaint shows how law enforcement officials, during their investigation, used his cellphone information to place him at the golf course from 0559 GMT until 1731 GMT on Sunday (local 1:59 am until about 1:31 pm).

A digital camera, a loaded rifle with scope and a plastic bag containing food was recovered from the area where Routh had positioned himself, according to the affidavit.

'You are free to assassinate Trump'

The authorities did not immediately reveal any new details about Routh or allege a particular motive.

But he left an online footprint that reveals shifting political views and intense outrage about world events.

“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published 2023 book titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War”.

In the book, he described the former president as a “fool” and “buffoon” for both the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots and the “tremendous blunder” of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.

Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and must take part of the blame for the “child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless.”

He also tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, and he had a website seeking to raise money and recruit volunteers to fight for Kiev.

Court records also show Routh was convicted of multiple felony offences, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina.