Trump ‘shooter’ in jail
|Published
Target: Former US president Donald Trump. Picture: Matthew Hatcher / AFP
Police in the US have charged a 58-year-old man with the attempted assassination of former US president, Donald Trump.
Ryan Wesley Routh will remain in jail pending trial. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
In a statement, US Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed that a federal grand jury in Miami indicted Routh, a Hawaiian resident, for attempting to kill Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach last week.
"The Department of Justice will use every available tool to hold Ryan Routh accountable for the attempted assassination of former president Trump," he added.
Trump had been playing golf on September 15 when a Secret Service agent conducting a security sweep noticed a man, later identified as Routh, hiding in the bush along the fence line near the sixth hole.
The agent saw a gun barrel pointed at him and as he began backing away, he saw the rifle barrel move, and fired at Routh.
A witness saw Routh running across the road from the golf course and getting into a black Nissan Xterra. Routh was later apprehended by police on a highway.
Court documents allege that FBI agents found an SKS semi-automatic rifle with a scope and an extended magazine in the bushes, as well as a backpack and shopping bag containing bulletproof plates.
It is further alleged that FBI agents found handwritten notes of a list of dates and venues in August, September and October where Trump had appeared or would be appearing.
Garland said records showed that between August 18 and September 15, Routh’s cellphone accessed cell towers located near Trump International and Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.