Two federal gun charges have been filed against the man suspected of plotting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, faces the felony charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, according to unsealed court documents.
The first charge carries a maximum penalty of $250,000 in fines, 15 years in prison, and three years of supervised release. The second charge carries a possible five-year sentence, $250,000 in fines, and three years of supervised release.
According to the complaint, a U.S. Secret Service agent walking the perimeter of Trump International spotted the barrel of an SKS-style rifle poking out along the tree line.
After the agent fired in the direction of the rifle, a witness spotted a male fleeing the area on foot and then in a Nissan SUV bearing the license plate of a stolen Ford truck, according to the complaint.
At about 2:14 p.m., officers from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office pulled Routh over as he was traveling northbound on I-95, and the earlier witness identified him as the suspect seen leaving the golf club, the complaint states.
Cellphone records that investigators obtained from T-Mobile placed Routh along the perimeter of Trump International for roughly 12 hours, from 1:51 a.m. to 1:31 p.m., when the incident occurred.
The complaint also details Routh’s prior conviction in December 2002 in Greensboro, North Carolina, for “possession of a weapon of mass death and destruction.” The charge, a Class F felony, is punishable by up to 59 months’ incarceration.
Law enforcement indexes also show a March 2010 conviction on multiple counts of possession of stolen goods, a Class H felony punishable by up to 39 months incarceration.
At his Sept. 16 arraignment, Routh told Magistrate Judge Ryon M. McCabe that he has a 25-year-old son, earns about $3,000 a month, and has no assets besides a truck in Hawaii worth roughly $1,000.
It could be the same white Ford truck that The Associated Press photographed outside Routh’s home in Kawa, Hawaii, which bears a Biden–Harris bumper sticker.
Routh will be represented by a public defender. He is due back in court for his detention hearing on Sept. 23.
The FBI is leading the ongoing probe with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Secret Service.
Attorney General Merrick Garland told The Associated Press that the Justice Department will “bring every available resource to bear” as the investigation continues.
New Details
At an afternoon press conference, the FBI and Secret Service revealed previously undisclosed details about the incident and the ongoing investigation.Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge for the FBI’s Miami Field Office, confirmed that investigators are treating the event as an apparent attempted assassination.
“We view this as extremely serious and are determined to provide answers as to what went up to the events which took place,” Veltri said.
He noted that the FBI’s field offices in Honolulu and Charlotte, North Carolina, have begun interviewing Routh’s family members, friends, and former colleagues for more information. The FBI’s Evidence Response Team is also processing the SKS-style rifle recovered from the scene, its scope, two bags, Routh’s electronic devices, and “what appears to be ceramic tiles.”
The FBI also received a tip in 2019 that Routh, a convicted felon, was illegally in possession of a firearm, Veltri said. However, when the FBI followed up on the complaint, Veltri said, the complainant “did not verify” that he or she had provided the initial information.
Investigators are also examining Routh’s cellular data to determine his movements leading up to the incident.
As for the security that was in place during Trump’s golf outing, acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe advised that the agency employed counter snipers, counter surveillance, counter-assault teams, and drones to protect the former president.
Rowe said Trump was moving through the fifth fairway and an agent was conducting a sweep of the sixth green when the alleged gunman was spotted. The suspect did not fire any shots, and he did not have a direct line of sight to Trump.
“With reports of gunfire, the former president’s close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location,” Rowe added.
The acting director said Trump’s round of golf was an “off-the-record movement” not on his official schedule.
Routh’s Background
Records show that Routh has spent most of his life living in North Carolina, where he ran a roofing business before moving to Hawaii in 2018.In his bio, he expresses that he is eager to join “any monumental worthy cause to bring about real change in our world,” and is willing to relocate to do so. And amid the war in Ukraine, he did just that, according to various media interviews.
In a June 2022 interview with Newsweek, he detailed his move to Ukraine to assist in the conflict and his efforts to recruit volunteers for the International Legion—efforts the Ukrainian military sought to distance itself from on Sept. 16.
Routh would contact the International Legion with “nonsensical ideas,” Oleksandr Shahuri, a representative officer of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command, told The Associated Press. But Routh had no connection to the group or the Ukrainian military in any form, Shahuri said.
“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan since it’s such a corrupt country,” Routh told the outlet.
Routh’s now-suspended account on social media platform X contained numerous posts in support of Ukraine, NATO, and Taiwan.
On Aug. 10, 2023, he wrote of his plans to create a Taiwan Foreign Legion to recruit Afghan fighters to defend the nation against the Chinese Communist Party.
Voting records show that Routh registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012 and recently voted in the state’s Democratic presidential primary in March.
Earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden in a post on X that read: “POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”
Campaign finance records also reveal that, using his Hawaii address, he has made 19 small political donations totaling $140 through ActBlue since 2019.
Trump, in an interview with Fox Digital on Sept. 16, suggested that his Democrat opponents’ claims that he is a “threat to democracy” were stoking political violence targeting him.
In a statement released just after midnight on Sept. 16, Vice President Kamala Harris said she was “deeply disturbed” by the apparent assassination attempt against her opponent in the presidential race.
“As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We must all do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,” she said, adding that she was thankful that Trump was safe.
President Joe Biden likewise said he was “relieved” Trump was unharmed.
“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety,” he wrote on X.
