Thwarted Trump shooter Ryan Routh possessed notes that indicated the dates of past and future Donald Trump campaign events, new info released by US prosecutors Monday shows.
According to court documents, police searching Routh’s vehicle reportedly found several notes and a “handwritten list of dates in August, September, and October 2024 and venues where the former President had appeared or was expected to be present.”
The man suspected by the FBI of planning to kill former Pres. Trump possessed a list that included dates from August to October of venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to be, prosecutors said in a detention filing on Monday. @kfaulders reports. https://t.co/0YOKUObLBP pic.twitter.com/Dh12qeIiKI
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) September 23, 2024
During a search of Routh’s black Nissan Xterra, investigators also recovered two additional license plates, 12 pairs of gloves, a Hawaii Driver’s License, a passport, and six cellphones, with one phone containing a Google search of “how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.”
Investigators also reviewed a Feb. 2023 book authored by Routh titled, Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea, WWIII and the End of Humanity, in which he urged Iran to assassinate Trump.
DOJ prosecutors also revealed Routh had made contact with a civilian witness who described Routh dropping “off a box at his residence several months prior.”
“After learning of the Sept. 15, 2024, incident at Trump International, the witness opened the box. The witness stated the box contained ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters,” prosecutors wrote.
One of Routh’s letter to the unnamed witness mentioned a bounty, stating, “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. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
DOJ releases letter from would-be President Trump ass*ssin Ryan Routh.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) September 23, 2024
In it Routh confirms that, “This was an ass*ss*nation attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you.”
He adds, “It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.” pic.twitter.com/OwkUx68Dp5
Routh was arrested last week after a Secret Service agent conducting a security sweep along the 6th hole of Trump International “spotted the partially obscured face of a man in the brush along the fence line,” and “then observed a long black object protruding through the fence and realized the object was the barrel of a rifle aimed directly at him.”
“The Agent jumped out of the golf cart, drew his weapon, and began backing away. The Agent saw the rifle barrel move, and the Agent fired at ROUTH,” prosecutors’ report continues, adding Routh fled but was later taken into custody during a traffic stop.
Prosecutors also noted he was previously convicted for “possession of a weapon of mass destruction” and “multiple counts of possession of stolen goods.”
Routh faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on federal charges of possessing a firearm with a destroyed serial number as a convicted felon.
A federal judge in Florida on Monday ruled Routh would be held without bail pending his trial.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) last week signed an executive order assigning the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution to investigate the assassination attempt.
“The suspect, Ryan Routh, is believed to have committed state law violations across multiple judicial circuits in this state,” DeSantis said a press conference.
Read prosecutors’ full request arguing in favor of Routh’s pretrial detention: