The FBI’s director said on Sept. 18 that the bureau will use its “full force” to investigate the alleged attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at his golf course in Florida on Sept. 15.
Speaking at the Aspen Cyber Summit in Washington, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that the bureau is “working tirelessly to get to the bottom of what happened” as it leads the investigation into the alleged second attempt to assassinate the Republican presidential nominee.
Wray, who said he’s relieved to know that Trump wasn’t harmed, cautioned that the FBI is still “just a few days into the investigation,” meaning that it cannot make many comments on the details of the case.
“What I can say is that we have dedicated the full force of the FBI to this investigation, and that runs the gamut from criminal to national security resources ... from tactical support to evidence response teams ... from forensic scientists to operational technology personnel,” he added. “Together, we’re working around the clock to investigate this.”
Felony firearms charges have been filed by prosecutors against suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, 58.
In 2019, the FBI received a tip that Routh, a convicted felon, was in possession of a firearm, and the case was ultimately closed, Veltri said. In 2002, Routh was convicted of having possession of a weapon of mass destruction related to an incident in North Carolina, the FBI has said.
Specifically, Routh faces charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and he made his initial court appearance on Sept. 16. He has not entered a plea in the case, and his next court date is Sept. 23, for a bond hearing.
Court documents and officials say Routh waited for 12 hours near the Trump golf course’s perimeter before he was discovered by Secret Service agents on the afternoon of Sept. 15. An SKS-style rifle, a camera, and two backpacks were recovered by the FBI, which sent the items for testing at its facility in Quantico, Virginia.
An Epoch Times review of Routh’s social media posts and comments he made to media outlets suggests he was an avid backer of Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia. Routh also made posts on social media platform X that were critical of Trump and wrote a self-published, Ukraine-focused book in 2023 that suggested that Iran should kill the former president.
“The subject had an active online presence, and we are going through what he posted and any searches conducted online,” Veltri said. “In addition, we are going through media reports and public statements he made that he wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers and others to fight for Ukraine.”
Trump survived an assassination attempt in July when a gunman opened fire at him while the former president spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet fired by the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, struck Trump in the right ear.
