An undated selfie shows Ryan W. Routh, a suspect identified by news organizations, as the FBI investigates what they said was an apparent assassination attempt in Florida on Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, in this image obtained from social media.
Social Media | Via Reuters
The suspect in an apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump was charged Monday with two federal gun crimes.
The man, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, faces one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Click here to read the full criminal complaint against Routh
The charges were revealed during Routh’s initial court appearance in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday morning.
Routh, appearing in shackles and dark blue jail attire before magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe, seemed unbothered and nonchalant as he sat with a public defender, NBC News reported.
The suspect is due back in court next Monday, Sept. 23, for a bond hearing.
Routh was arrested Sunday after U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach while the Republican nominee was playing a round.
In a criminal complaint made public after Routh’s court appearance, an FBI special agent wrote that a member of Trump’s security detail was walking the perimeter of the course when, at around 1:31 p.m. ET, he noticed a rifle poking out of the tree line.
The Secret Service agent fired shots in the direction of the rifle, and a witness then saw Routh flee that area and speed away in a Nissan SUV, according to the complaint.
In the tree-line area where Routh fled, agents found “a loaded SKS-style, 7.62×39 caliber rifle with a scope,” along with a digital camera, two bags, and “a black plastic bag containing food,” the complaint said.
The serial number on the rifle was allegedly “obliterated and unreadable to the naked eye.”
Routh was arrested in a neighboring county.
Criminal complaint for Ryan Routh, suspect in apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Courtesy: United States District Court Southern District of Florida
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office is expected to release some of the body camera footage of Routh’s arrest later Monday, according to NBC.
Trump was not harmed. In a Truth Social post on Sunday night, he wrote, “It was certainly an interesting day!”
The incident could mark the second assassination attempt against him in two months.
Trump’s ear was grazed by a bullet during a prior assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July. The shooter in that attack, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed seconds after he opened fire.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris said in a statement Sunday that she was glad her Republican rival was safe, adding, “Violence has no place in America.”
President Joe Biden on Monday morning told reporters outside the White House that the Secret Service “needs more help.”
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
