What the indictment and court documents tell us about the apparent second attack on Donald Trump
With a digital camera, a black plastic bag full of groceries and a loaded SKS rifle, Ryan Routh arrived at Donald Trump’s golf course in Palm Beach and waited for nearly 12 hours.
Court documents provide details of the allegations against the 58-year-old following the alleged second assassination attempt on the former president.
Mr Routh appeared briefly in federal court in Florida on Monday (local time) to face two weapons charges.
The initial charges allow authorities to keep Mr. Routh in custody pending further investigations.
And experts believe even more serious charges are likely to be brought.
This is what we learned from Mr. Routh’s first court appearance, the documents presented to the court, and what might happen next.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office released this photo of Ryan Routh after his arrest. (Source: Martin County Sheriff’s Office)
The accusation
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), former President Trump was the target of an “apparent assassination attempt” at his golf club in West Palm Beach on Sunday.
A Secret Service agent shot Mr. Routh when he was spotted with a rifle in the bushes while Trump was playing golf a few hundred yards away.
The suspect reportedly fled the scene but was arrested about 40 minutes later while traveling north on Interstate 95.
Handcuffed and wearing a blue jumpsuit, Mr. Routh appeared briefly in court on Monday, where he had to face two federal weapons offenses:
- Possession of a firearm by a prohibited person – convicted felon
- Possession of a firearm with an obscured serial number
The prosecution requested that Mr Routh remain in custody because he is a flight risk. (Reuters: Lothar Speer )
Dr. Harry Melkonian, a practicing attorney and volunteer at the United States Studies Centre, said the allegations were serious.
The first count is that Mr. Routh illegally possessed his weapon despite multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possession of stolen goods in North Carolina in 2002.
The other allegation is that the serial number was “obscured and made unreadable to the naked eye” in violation of federal law.
“The charges are quite serious and carry severe penalties,” said Dr. Melkonian.
“The first case can carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years, so this is not a minor charge.”
If convicted on the second charge, he faces five years in prison.
A detention hearing for Mr. Routh is scheduled for September 23.
(Reuters: Marco Bello)
The first investigation
Dave Aronberg, the district attorney for Palm Beach County, told US news channel MSNBC that an attempted murder charge could be considered even if the defendant did not fire a shot.
There is no evidence so far that Routh fired his weapon, and the Secret Service said he “had no visual contact with the former president.”
The incident came just two months after another gunman took aim at Trump during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a bullet hit him in the ear.
Dr. Melkonian said that at this stage of the investigation, it would be much easier to charge Mr. Routh with weapons offenses than to try to prove that he intended to shoot the Republican presidential candidate.
“To justify the arrest, they (the investigators) had to show the judge a fundamental probable cause for the arrest, and that is what this was about,” he said.
“From a prosecutor’s perspective, it is much easier to charge someone with gun possession who is not authorized to own a gun than to try to prove that someone intended to shoot Donald Trump.”
Load…
What was in the court documents?
Mobile data
According to a criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Mark Thomas with “probable cause,” cellphone data indicates that Mr. Routh was “near the tree line” at Trump International Golf Course from shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday until approximately 1:30 p.m.
A Secret Service agent was walking around the perimeter of the golf course when he spotted what appeared to be a rifle sticking out of a tree at 1:31 p.m. and opened fire.
Therefore, Mr. Routh may have been at the crime scene for nearly 12 hours before he was noticed.
Mr Trump was playing at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, when a gunman was spotted on the property. (Reuters: Marco Bello)
During their investigation, law enforcement officials claimed they discovered a publicly viewable Facebook post by Mr. Routh dated July 10 in which he instructed his followers to contact him via a WhatsApp number.
Authorities were able to confirm that the number belonged to Mr. Routh and contacted T-Mobile to provide cell phone usage data that located him at the golf course on Sunday.
Objects at the crime scene
Mr. Routh allegedly fled the area after coming under fire from the agent, getting into a Nissan SUV and driving away “at a high rate of speed.”
According to court documents, he left behind:
- A digital camera
- Two bags, one of which is a backpack
- A loaded SKS rifle in caliber 7.62 x 39 with telescopic sight
- A black plastic bag with groceries
Photos show an AK-47-style rifle, a backpack and a Go-Pro camera on a fence outside the Trump International Golf Club. (AP: Stephany Matat)
Serial number of the rifle is missing
The serial number of the SKS model was “unreadable to the naked eye,” wrote Mr. Thomas.
He added that based on his “training and experience,” he was aware that SKS-style rifles in 7.62×39 caliber were not manufactured in the state of Florida.
“Therefore, I submit that there is reasonable cause to believe that the SKS rifle seized from the tree line at Trump International Airport was previously transported in interstate or foreign commerce,” he stated.
Ryan Routh briefly appeared in court in Florida. (Reuters: Social Media )
Previous criminal convictions
According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Routh was found guilty in North Carolina on several counts of possession of stolen goods.
This included a crime of possession of a weapon of mass destruction in 2002.
What happens next?
Judge Ryon McCabe concluded that there was sufficient probable cause to charge Mr. Routh with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
A detention hearing is scheduled for September 23.
The charges in a criminal complaint in federal court are preliminary in nature and typically require an indictment by a grand jury before the case can proceed.
Dr. Melkonian said prosecutors often use this time to add more charges and the grand jury “tends to do what the prosecutor asks.”
He added that the state of Florida may also file charges.
At the federal level, threatening the death of a former president carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, Dr. Melkonian said.
“The laws on murder, which include attempted murder, do not apply to someone who is not president,” he said.
“But if there is a prosecution in the state of Florida, I suspect they will not take any action until the federal case is completed.”
