The 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, suspected in former US President Donald Trump's second apparent assassination attempt, waited for the Republican candidate outside a golf course for 12 hours with some food and a rifle.
Routh was waiting for the former president before a Secret Service agent foiled the potential attack and opened fire, court documents filed on Monday show.
The suspect, who is now in custody, is facing charges of possessing a firearm despite a prior conviction in a felony, and possessing a firearm with an effaced serial number.
Never Had Trump In Line Of Sight
However, the Secret Service's acting chief said that Routh did not fire any shots and neither did he have Trump in his eyeline.
Routh, who was arrested on Sunday afternoon after authorities spotted a firearm peeking out of a bush on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was flying, appeared before a federal court.
A Secret Service detail, assigned to the Republican Presidential candidate, spotted the fire arm and opened fire. Soon after, Routh ran from the spot only to get caught by law enforcement in a neighbouring country, officials said.
Martin County sheriff's office posted the body camera footage of Routh's arrest, which showed him walking backwards with his hands over his head on the side of a road before being handcuffed by an officer.
Suspect's Planning
According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) affidavit, which cited mobile phone data, Routh is believed to have been assumed position at the golf course's tree line from around 1:59 am to 1:31 pm on Sunday.
The document said that officials recovered a digital camera, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope, and a plastic bag containing food from the area where Routh had been standing.
Free To Assassinate Trump
Though Routh's extensive background was not revealed by the authorities, his massive digital footprint suggested that he is a man of evolving political opinions.
His social media presence showed his dismissal of Trump and concerns over global events, especially those concerning Ukraine.
"You are free to assassinate Trump," Routh wrote of Iran in an apparent self-published book dated 2023 and titled 'Ukraine's Unwinnable War'. The suspect described Trump as a "fool" and "buffoon" for both the Capital riots -- January 6, 2021 -- and the "tremendous blunder" of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.
Noting that he voted for Trump once, Routh said that he must take part of the blame for the "child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless".
Apparently, the suspect had also attempted to hire fighters for Ukraine to fight against Russia. He even had a website seeking to raise money and recruit volunteers to fight for Kyiv.
Routh was found to be registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012 in the voter records.
Notably, of the two counts he faces, one alleges that Routh illegally possessed a gun in spite of being convicted of multiple felonies, including charges of possessing stolen goods. The other alleges that the gun's serial number was erased and unreadable to the naked eye, which is a violation of federal law.
Routh was also the subject of a previously closed tip to the FBI (2019) which alleged that he was a felon possessing a firearm, said Jeffrey Veltri, the special agent in charge of FBI's Miami field office.
Veltri said that authorities are engaged in searching for the suspect's cellphones, electronics and a vehicle, adding that they are also interviewing witnesses on the scene, as well as family members and former colleagues.
Trump's Security
Trump's rivals, both President Joe Biden and November 5 election opponent Kamala Harris condemned the assassination attempt, with Harris posting on X, "I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America."
Meanwhile, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, "We will work tirelessly to ensure accountability, and we will bring every available resource to bear in this investigation."
The thwarted attempt and Routh's arrest has once again brought under the limelight the former president's security.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of Trump's GOP primary rivals, said that his state would conduct its independent investigation as to how Routh got so close to him.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw addressed a briefing and said that since Trump is no longer in office, security protocols around the course had loosened.
"He's not the sitting president. If he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded. But because he's not, his security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible," Bradshaw told reporters.
Notably, this incident comes months after Trump had been shot at during his election campaign rally in Pennsylvania. A bullet had grazed the former president's ear after a 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks -- the gunman -- gained access to an unsecured roof during the rally in the Butler area.
