Washington Post: Donald Trump golf course suspect may have been at scene 12 hours, officials say

The man suspected in an apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump evidently spent nearly 12 hours in the bushes around the former president’s golf course before a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle and opened fire, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed in Florida on Monday.

Authorities said the suspect did not fire a shot and never had a clear line of sight to shoot Trump.

A Secret Service agent protecting Trump, the Republican nominee in the November election, was walking the perimeter of the course Sunday when he saw a gun poking out of the tree line near where Trump was golfing and fired in that direction. No one was injured.

Law enforcement officials Monday charged 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh as a felon illegally possessing a gun - a charge that allows authorities to keep him in custody while they continue to investigate his motives and actions, and try to determine whether he had any accomplices. Routh fled and left behind his phone, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope, two bags and food, according to the complaint.

Authorities said at least one of his bags also contained ceramic plates, which are often used as body armour.

Investigators found the suspect’s cellphone number in one of his Facebook posts and were able to quickly track his phone data, which suggested he could have been hiding in the bushes from around 2am until about 1.30pm, when the Secret Service saw him, the complaint said.

Routh, of Hawaii, appeared before a judge in federal court in Florida on Monday morning, local time, as officials charged him with two crimes: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The obliterated serial number makes it harder for authorities to track the weapon and determine how it was obtained. The FBI agent who wrote the court document said the type of weapon Routh had is not manufactured in Florida, and the agent suspects it was obtained from another state or abroad.

The suspect had been convicted of multiple crimes in his previous home state of North Carolina, including for possession of a weapon of mass destruction in 2002 for an incident involving an alleged machine gun.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri said at the Monday afternoon news conference that investigators are still working to understand how long the suspect had been in the area and the state of Florida. There are no immediate pieces of evidence pointing to an accomplice, Veltri said.

“We view this as extremely serious and are determined to provide answers as to what led up to the events which took place,” Veltri said.

The incident brings renewed scrutiny to the Secret Service, which is charged with protecting the current and former presidents and their families. The Secret Service blamed internal lapses and said it failed to properly protect Trump in July when a gunman fired multiple shots at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, injuring Trump.

An agent shot and killed the gunman in that assassination attempt. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned under criticism for those security shortcomings, and President Joe Biden ordered that Trump receive heightened security as he runs for president.

Acting Secret Service director Ronald L. Rowe Jr. said Monday that those additional resources and new Secret Service plans were in place Sunday, and he commended his agents’ work.

“The agents’ hypervigilance and the (security) details’ swift action was textbook,” Rowe said at the news conference.

Once the Secret Service agent fired his weapon, a witness saw the suspect fleeing Trump’s golf course, the complaint states. About 45 minutes after that, local law enforcement pulled the suspect over as he was speeding north along Interstate 95.

When officers pulled him over, they asked if he understood why he was being stopped, according to the complaint. The suspect allegedly responded that he understood.

Law enforcement officials took him into custody on Sunday afternoon and Veltri said the suspect declined to speak to them, invoking his right to an attorney. He was assigned a federal public defender.

During his brief initial appearance before a judge Monday, the suspect wore a dark blue, short-sleeve jumpsuit and was shackled at his wrist and ankles. He appeared relaxed as he chatted with his attorney.

Magistrate Judge Ryon M. McCabe agreed with prosecutors that the suspect posed a risk of flight and was a danger to the community, and ordered him to remain in custody.

The judge will review whether he should remain in custody at a hearing scheduled for September 23. Routh is then expected to enter his plea of guilty or not guilty at his arraignment September 30.

The FBI is leading the investigation. The U.S attorney’s office in South Florida is prosecuting the case along with the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The federal law enforcement officials have not identified a motive, but they have said they are investigating the incident as a possible assassination attempt.

While the initial charges do not accuse the suspect of trying to kill Trump, the ongoing investigation could result in additional charges. Charging him with an attempted assassination could be complicated by the fact that the suspect never fired his weapon on Sunday, making it even more critical for investigators to gather any available evidence about his intentions and state of mind. If the case is determined to be an attempted assassination, it would be the second one on Trump in less than 10 weeks.

Authorities also discussed the suspect’s long history of police encounters. The FBI received a tip in 2019 that he had illegally possessed a firearm as a felon, officials said Monday. When agents questioned the apparent tipster, the person “did not verify” the initial information, Veltri said. The FBI passed the tip on to local police in Honolulu, but little appears to have come of it.

Veltri said the investigators have interviewed Secret Service agents, witnesses and the suspect’s relatives, friends and acquaintances in North Carolina and Hawaii. Investigators have also searched multiple electronic devices belonging to the suspect and are sifting through his social media accounts.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told local station WPEC on Monday that when his deputies spotted the suspect driving along I-95, “he was smart, he was just driving with the Florida traffic. I think he may have thought he got away with it.” His deputies then apprehended him without incident.

Snyder said the case raises questions that federal authorities will have to answer.

“How does a guy from not here get all the way to Trump International, realize that the former president is golfing and is able to get a rifle in that vicinity?” the sheriff said. “Is this guy part of a conspiracy? Is he a lone gunman? … If he’s part of a conspiracy then this whole thing really takes on a very ominous tone.”

According to the complaint, the license plate affixed to the suspect’s Nissan is registered to a “2012 white Ford truck and has been reported stolen.”

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