Prosecutors on Tuesday charged Ryan Wesley Routh with the attempted assassination of President Trump, accusing him of staking out Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course for hours on September 15, armed with a rifle aimed through a chain-link fence. Routh allegedly had a clear line of sight to a nearby hole where Trump was set to arrive.
The case will be overseen by Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, who previously handled—and dismissed—the federal classified documents case against Trump, court documents show.
According to prosecutors, Routh had been “stalking” Trump in Florida for over a month. Cell phone data reportedly placed him at both the golf course and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on multiple occasions between August 18 and his arrest in mid-September.
Routh was initially charged with two gun-related offenses, including possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and having a firearm with an obliterated serial number, while authorities continued their investigation.
Attorney General Merrick Garland noted that investigators had uncovered details of the alleged assassination attempt just days before the information was included in the court record for Routh’s detention hearing.
In response to a statement from Trump, who accused the federal government of mishandling the investigation and called for the case to be handled by Florida, Garland said the Justice Department would “seek to cooperate and get assistance from” Florida officials, in accordance with the law.
