Ahead of a detention hearing Monday, federal prosecutors revealed that Ryan Wesley Routh, the 58-year-old man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his golf course in Florida, allegedly wrote a letter months earlier declaring his intent to kill the former president.
The note was a focal point for prosecutors urging a judge to detain Routh ahead of trial following the Sept. 15 incident.
The letter — which was addressed “Dear World” — states plainly that it was “an assassination attempt on Donald Trump” and continued with an apology, stating he was “so sorry I failed you” and “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.”
Court records obtained by JS Monday indicate that witnesses told investigators Routh left a box at the home of a witness containing the ammunition as well as a metal pipe, phones and the letter months ago.
Prosecutors allege that a Secret Service agent said he spotted the long black barrel of a rifle sticking out from the trees just ahead of the holes where the former president was playing golf earlier this month at his West Palm Beach club. Routh was seen fleeing the scene by a witness and then driving away.
He was arrested the same day after police spotted him driving a black Nissan Xterra SUV with a Florida license plate on a nearby highway. He was alone in the vehicle. Sheriffs told reporters that he was emotionless when he was pulled over. He was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon as well as a possessing a firearm where the serial number has been obliterated.
Additional charges could be possible in the days ahead.
According to prosecutors, the box that was left at the home of the “civilian witness” was not opened until after Routh was arrested.
Amid the apologies, Routh is accused of writing, “It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
“Everyone across the globe from the youngest to the oldest know that Trump is unfit to be anything, much less a U.S. president,” Routh allegedly wrote.
Prosecutors say Routh was convicted of felony possession of a weapon of mass destruction, or a “binary explosive device,” in December 2002 while living in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2020, he was charged on multiple counts of possession of stolen goods, also felonies.
When Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department officers stopped Routh this month they said they found six cell phones, one of which contained a Google search of “how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.”
They also said they found a dozen pairs of gloves, a Hawaii driver’s license in Routh’s name; a passport in his name; and a “handwritten list” of dates and venues where Trump was expected to be throughout August, September and October.
Police also said they found “a notebook with dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine, and notes criticizing the governments of China and Russia.”
The FBI was allegedly able to obtain cell site records for two of the phones found in Routh’s vehicle. Those records showed he allegedly traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 14 and that on “multiple days from Aug. 18, 2024 to Sept. 15, 2024, Routh’s cell phone accessed cell towers located near Trump International (Golf Course) and the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.”
Routh’s latent fingerprints were also allegedly found on a piece of tape stuck to the rifle.
FBI agents probing the alleged apparent assassination attempt said they found a book Routh wrote in February 2023 about Ukraine where he encouraged the assassination of Trump.
An attorney for Routh did not immediately return a request for comment to JS.
Routh appears in court at 11 a.m. on Monday.
The firearm charges alone pose maximum penalties of 15 years and 5 years of imprisonment, respectively, plus supervised release and fines of up to $250,000 per charge.
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