Ryan Routh Faces State Charges Nearly 7 Months After Alleged Assassination Attempt on Trump

Ryan Routh was officially charged with first-degree attempted murder and terrorism, with the charges carrying a life sentence.

Ryan Wesley Routh takes part in a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 30, 2022. Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo

The man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September last year has now been charged in the state of Florida after “206 days of stonewalling” by the Biden administration, according to the state’s attorney general on Thursday.

Ryan Routh, 59, was officially charged with first-degree attempted murder and terrorism, with the charges carrying a life sentence.

“My office, as well as our law enforcement partners, were met with major roadblocks in prosecuting this case during Biden’s term,” Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a video statement. “Biden and his attorney general sought to frustrate our efforts and block our investigation into the man who crossed into this state and attempted to commit political violence against a Florida resident.”

Shortly after the assassination attempt, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order that authorized state agencies to pursue charges against Routh. Despite the move, according to Uthmeier, the U.S. Justice Department made it difficult to prosecute the case at the state level.

Uthmeier did not specify exactly how federal prosecutors at the time refused to cooperate with the state. But he thanked Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel for helping to preserve “Florida’s sovereign authority” after they took office.

“We now have a federal government willing to work together to pursue justice,” Uthmeier said.

Routh already faces federal charges, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and several firearms charges.

Federal prosecutors at the time called for justice to be served.

“Violence targeting public officials endangers everything our country stands for, and the Department of Justice will use every available tool to hold Ryan Routh accountable for the attempted assassination of former President Trump charged in the indictment,” then-Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement last year. “The Justice Department will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy, and we will find and hold accountable those who perpetrate it. This must stop.”

Then-FBI Director Christopher Wray maintained that the agency would use the full weight of its resources to uncover as much information as possible about the events that led to the attempted assassination.

Routh has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges and faces life in prison if convicted.

On Sept. 15, 2024, Routh spent 12 hours camped outside Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course before a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle protruding through the fence, authorities said. The agent fired in his direction, and Routh allegedly left the scene. He was later arrested in a nearby county.

Officials said Routh did not fire any rounds and did not have Trump in his line of sight. He allegedly left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a plastic bag filled with food, and a loaded rifle with a scope. His prior criminal history revealed that he was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010.

Routh was the second alleged would-be assassin to attempt to take Trump’s life during his 2024 presidential campaign. Thomas Crooks shot Trump in the ear as he spoke on stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, just months earlier in July. Crooks was subsequently shot and killed by counter-snipers at the scene.

From NTD News