LOS ANGELES.–FBI officials have a document from 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh that his Sept. 15 arrest was actually an “assassination attempt,” not simply the two gun charges for his arrest in federal custody in West Palm Beach. Routh faces arraignment today where federal prosecutors are going to add the assassination attempt to federal charges, asking the presiding judge to keep Routh in custody due to public danger and flight risk before eventual trial. FBI officials said a witness came forward with a box dropped off to him by Routh, containing “ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phone and various letters.” “The World,” Routh writes. “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster,” offering a reward to anyone who could “finish the job.” With evidence like that, it’s clear what Routh was trying to do Sept. 15 at Trump International Golf Club.
Cell phone records showed that Routh spent nearly 12 hours in the wee hours of Sept. 15, lying in wait in the bushes at Trump International waiting for the former president. When a Secret Service agent spotted Routh pushing the barrel of his AR-15-type assault rifle through the bushes, he opened fire and drove Routh to jump in his black Nissan SUV and flee the scene at 1: 30 PM, rushing up the I-95 where he was arrested by Martin County Sheriffs 45-miles north of Trump International. Authorities found two license plates, six cell phones, 12 pairs of gloves, a Hawaii driver’s license and U.S. passport, both belonging to Rough. Authorities also found a notebook with filled with phone numbers related to Ukraine, discussions on how to join the Ukraine army and notes criticizing Russia and China. Also found were handwritten dates and venues in Aug., Sept. and Oct. where Trump was expected to appear, attesting to the extent of planning for Routh’s assassination plot.
Routh never fired off shot on Sept. 15, instead fled the scene after an observant Secret Service agent opened fire to stop what looked like an assassination attempt. Only nine weeks after Trump close encounter with death July 13 at a Butler, Pa. rally where 23-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks got off eight shots, killing a local firefighter, seriously wounding two bystanders and grazing Trump’s right ear with a bullet. Crooks managed to get under local law enforcement and Secret Service perimeter at the Butler, Pa. venue, crawling up on warehouse roof to get off his shots. Whether admitted to or not, Crooks planned out the assassination attempt just as carefully as Routh, spending considerable time how he would evade local authorities and the Secret Service. Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe admitted to “mission failure” Sept. 21, prompting the July 23 resignation of former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
Cheatle had difficulty explaining Secret Service failures to protect Trump on July 13, with a young shooter Crooks getting off eight shots before taken down by a sharpshooter’s bullet to the head. While there are differences between the Crooks and Routh assassination attempts both had a lot of planning, baffling profilers in terms of motive. Secret Service and FBI have had a virtual blackout on any facts that have emerged from Crook’s near-miss assassination attempt, including whether or not there was any foreign influence. When it comes to Routh, it appears he was self-radicalized by all the outrageous propaganda coming from Democrats circles. Biden and now Kamala made their campaigns about Trump trying to destroy 250 years of American democracy, replacing it with a fascist dictatorship. Those carefully planned messages influenced the shooters, both Crooks and Routh.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said that Routh never had a clear line-of- sight to former President Donald Tump. Armed with an AR-15 assault rifle with a long-range scope, Routh got as close as he could to get off a clear shot. Whether he didn’t have a clear line-of-sight or not, his intent was to assassinate Trump given the chance. Routh traveled from Greensboro, N.D. to West Palm Beach on Aug. 14 and was close to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and golf course “multiple days and times between Aug. 18 and Sept. 15, the day he was arrested. An observant bystander at Trump International photographed Routh’s license plate noting his very suspicious behavior before he fled up the I-15. Martin County Sheriffs had all they needed to pull him over without incident. Routh cooperated with arresting sheriffs, not asking why he was pulled over.
Now that Routh’s in custody, federal authorities cannot let him out on bail, noting he’s a danger to Trump and an obvious flight risk. FBI officials have enough of Routh’s own statements in letters and in his 2023 self-published book, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” that he had every intent of assassinating Trump. Now that he’s caught, defense counsel will no doubt plead insanity or some other mitigating mental health circumstance. But let there be no mistake, Routh didn’t take a potshot at Trump from a crowd but methodically stalked him over a month before he nearly got off a shot. “You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh said in his book, attesting that it was a serious obsession to kill Trump. One Secret Service agent was on the ball Sept. 15, watching Routh point his AR-15 at Trump. Secret Service needs to take Trump’s assassination attempts seriously going forward.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
